Star Trek Outwardly Mobile Harrier
by Jay P Hailey
Summary: The Adventures of the USS Harrier.
1. Chapter 1

REP: Star Trek: Outwardly Mobile (OCC - TNG era) 01: The Holly Hop Incident, PG 1/1

Title: Star Trek: Outwardly Mobile 01: The Holly Hop Incident

Author: Jay P Hailey ST-OM, OCC - TNG era 01/54?

Rating:PG

Archive: Fine with me, just tell me where.

Disclaimer: Paramount owns all things Star Trek. I claim Original Characters and Situations for me.

Webpage HTTP://jayphailey. Trek: Outwardly Mobile

Episode 01: The Holly Hop Incident

(Stardate 44603)

By

Jay P. Hailey

And

Dennnis Washburn

It was just another day in San Francisco, as far as I could see. I was wrong. I woke up at the usual time, ate my usual breakfast, and had my usual morning jog.

I only jogged and took my time at the firing range as matter of habit. I had long since resigned myself to being a desk jockey at Starfleet Command. I was nearly fifty years old and hadn't had a promotion in five years.

Still, commander was a pretty good rank and working in San Francisco had its advantages. There was the night life. That and the distance from front line duty meant that it wasn't an adventure, it was just a job, one that I could leave at the office.

As I got back to my apartment near Golden Gate Park, the message light was blinking on my terminal. It was Admiral Quinn, my boss.

Quinn was an odd duck. It had been twenty years or more since he had held a field command, but he still wandered around as though he had that kind of discretion. His official title was "Chief of Operations" but I happened to know that 95 of that work was handled by a staff of people like me, who put in their eight hour shift and then went home.

Admiral Quinn kept running around and poking his nose into odd places. He always had one or two special projects cooking.

The Klingons would have called him a "Thought Admiral" at one time, and viewed him with a mixture of respect and uncertainty. Generally, he was regarded around Starfleet Command as "eccentric" and "independent minded."

He had the ear of all the top brass. The Federation President and the C-in-C both met with Admiral Quinn regularly.

He had rescued me from re-classifying old mission logs and had used me as his "George" for some time. "George" is old service slang. It's the pick up officer. If you don't know whose department it was in, or if no other department wanted it, then you assigned it to "George."

The recording on my terminal was Admiral Quinn.

On my terminal Quinn looked as though he was already a couple of hours into his day. Perhaps he was.

"Commander Hailey, please come to my office first thing. Your other tasks have been reassigned. You'll be picking up new orders from me."

I sent a routine acknowledgment and got dressed. I went to the headquarters of Starfleet Command. The security scans held me up for a while. Security (A.K.A. "Redshirts," a name they particularly hated) was still doing overtime at Starfleet Command. It had been six months since the Borg had come to Earth, and the body armored goons with their phaser rifles wouldn't have done any good anyway, but we were still too gun shy to let them go just then.

Hell, I had even taken to carrying a phaser after that.

I'm told that the Counselor's department had a high turn over rate that year.

I felt late as I approached Admiral Quinn's office. I checked my watch. I was just on time, but when the Admiral cancels all your routine tasks and asks to see you first thing, you feel tardy no matter what.

"Jay, good morning," The Admiral greeted me as I walked through his door.

His office was typically large and well equipped. There were hints of personality here and there, too. The office overlooked the Pacific, as well as showing all the contextual junk, that no doubt had personal significance to Admiral Quinn.

"Good morning, Sir." I answered. Usually I meant it. Not today. Today I wanted to swallow the lump in my throat and say "What do you want, really?"

Quinn didn't disappoint me. He almost never does.

"Here are your orders." Quinn handed me a PADD.

_I read -_

_"You are promoted, as of stardate 44603.0 to the rank of Captain with all the privileges and responsibilities pertaining thereto."_

_You are further ordered to report to, and take command of the starship USS Harrier NCC 45657. You will then undertake the mission to be outlined later."_

I looked carefully at the PADD. There were some other phrases, in the overblown, pretentious and acronym laden lingo that Starfleet so adores. The orders looked authentic.

Admiral Quinn grinned merrily " I always enjoy that. It's one of the few real pleasures that come with this job, the look on a new captain's face when he gets the news. I must say, Captain, that skeptical disbelief is a new reaction to me."

I simply couldn't believe it. "There must be some mistake, Admiral. I'm not on the captains list."

"Don't sell yourself short, Jay. You always were on the list, albeit somewhere near the bottom." His face darkened. "The Borg Incident' advanced that list quite a great deal."

That I understood.

Quinn continued. "The Harrier is a test bed, not a front line command. It is, however a step up, for you."

That I understood, too.

"What is the Harrier going to test, sir?" I had butterflies in my stomach. The USS Harrier. My ship!

"It's going to test a new concept in faster-than-light drives." Admiral Quinn sounded enthusiastic and impressed. As well he might be. A significant improvement in starship speeds was something of a holy grail among engineers. It would be an unparalleled strategic advantage.

"You'll find out more, when you receive your orders. This mission has a level 9 classification." The Admiral finished.

I was shocked. I had a conditional level nine due to my records work, but I didn't know it counted for modern projects.

The rest of the day was a blur. I cleaned out my desk, and called up the records. The Harrier (My ship!) was currently completing a refit in Spacedock. Some of my co-workers came by to wish me luck. I briefed the new man, Sisko, on the details of the job. I left the Admiral's office early. I wasn't needed there. My new job was going to take some time to study up on. It was time I just didn't have.

--

A few days later I was in a travel pod while my new Security chief, Lt. Commander Flagg briefed me on the details of my new ship. (My ship!)

It was love at first sight when I saw her for the first time. But, honestly, she was an ugly duckling. I suppose the design must have seemed really nice 90 years ago, when the Constellation class ships first flew. But now, it was small and old.

The records on the hull went back sixty-seven years. I read about her last tour of duty, fifteen years ago. Starfleet had spent a lot of effort to bring her up to spec. I was especially worried about her new warp core. It was a modern device in an old fashioned ship. It developed more power than her systems were designed to handle. We could program it with a limiter to avoid that problem, but it made me unhappy. It was a kludge and it offended my engineer's sensibilities.

I had asked about it. As it turned out, the warp core had been intended for the USS Melbourne, which had been lost at Wolf 359. I didn't ask anymore. Many of us were dealing with hand-me-downs after that.

--

"... A number of positions have yet to be filled, Flagg was saying. He was a short, wiry man with black hair in a fuzzy, bushy, cut. He seemed intense. He moved like an oiled spring. I didn't really like him, but beggars can't be choosers. I was already trying to be the Captain when I put a grin on my face and tried to mean it, when I said "Glad to have you aboard, Commander."

I don't think he was fooled.

"I couldn't help but notice that we have no Chief Engineer assigned, yet. " I said. There was a whole shopping list of items. This was a big one for me. I had been a Chief Engineer, years before. I knew first hand how badly a ship depends on her Chief Engineer. We were only a few days shy of launch and still no Chief Engineer. On an experimental ship? It didn't make sense.

"Starfleet has been having a problem finding someone with the proper clearances and ... other attributes."

I was confused a little. What attributes? An engineer with that high a clearance usually had better things to do than push an old ship around, but I thought this was important. I figured I would learn more in a little bit of I just waited.

"Is there a First Officer assigned, yet?" I asked, dreading the answer.

Flagg grinned faintly. I almost missed it. "Yes sir. Commander Li'ira. She's a little green."

I thought that this was pushing it for the Chief of Security. "Ahem... Li'ira. Is that her first name, or last?"

"It's the only name she uses, Captain. She's an Orion." This was also a surprise. An Orion in Starfleet? In a command position? On an experimental ship?

"Ah... Hmmmm." I said. Too much simply did not make sense here.

But my discomfort couldn't last. We were about to dock. Flagg performed the usual fly by, checking out the exterior of the ship. It would be one of the few times I ever saw the USS Harrier from the outside. There was no hint on the surface of what made this ship an experimental model. All the bumps and protuberances were normal and functional for this ship. There were the sensor housings. Over there were the primary deflector emitters, with their complicated cooling manifolds.

I had spent as much time as possible learning the layout and systems of the USS Harrier. Fortunately there wasn't that much that was different from the stock model.

One difference was the navigational deflector system. It was overpowered for that kind of starship by a huge margin.

There was no one to ask about that. The whole thing was so classified, that I couldn't even speak to the Project Manager. I was just there to push the ship.

As we approached the docking port, I saw a scramble inside. The crew, (What there was of it) was rushing to receive the new Captain.

We received clearance to dock and the pod was made fast. My palms were sweaty. I didn't even realize that I was nervous until my hands reminded me. Flagg went over to the hatch and said "Whenever you're ready, Captain."

My chest felt tight. My voice broke as I said "Go ahead."

Flagg cycled the lock and the doors opened on the USS Harrier (My ship!). I stepped out of the pod and came to attention as I looked around. The first thing that caught my eye was the Orion, Li'ira. I was struck as I saw her by the Orion pheromones. I knew it, and knew what they were, and still I felt my cheeks flush as a rush of lust came over me. I took two deep breaths and looked again. She was tight. She was at attention, and you could have measured perfect angles between her and the deck. Every hair and every muscle was perfectly in place. Her face was very earnest and very young. She had the same intensity as Flagg. I put her at lieutenant, maybe even full grade. But there were three solid gold pips on her collar.

"Ten-HUT!!" She barked. And the rest of the crew came to attention. Most of them were young officers and ratings. It was a fairly fresh crew and probably inexperienced.

Lovely. I said "Permission to come aboard?"

"Permission granted, sir!" Li'ira barked.

I saluted the keel and came aboard. I inspected the fresh, young faces in my crew. Then I took a position roughly in front of them. I held up the PADD, and read the orders off it.

" ... As of this stardate, I hereby take command of this vessel." I finished.

"Computer, transfer command to Captain Jay P. Hailey, authorization, Li'ira - code delta gamma 1449." Li'ira barked, again. Had she rehearsed this?

I almost hesitated. I could feel the entire weight of the ship, the crew, and their weird mission settling on my shoulders.

But I was committed. "Computer, identify Jay P. Hailey, Captain. " The computer beeped, and I entered my code. I was officially tied to the USS Harrier. There was no turning back.

Almost as soon as the change of command was complete, Lt. Commander Flagg insisted that I needed a security briefing. I resisted at first. I wanted to tour the ship and get to know her. I hadn't even seen the Engine Room, yet. Flagg was stubborn and I reluctantly agreed. We retired to the captain's office. It was a generic little cubby hole with a wooden executive's desk overfilling it.

"Allow me to present my authentic credentials." Flagg said and handed me a strange PADD. It was a design favored by Starfleet Intelligence. I had to keep my thumb on a certain spot for the screen to stay on. If someone with different thumb print grabbed the PADD before the program was finished running, it would self destruct and call an alert.

It was an identification of Colonel John Flagg. It looked authentic. There wasn't much back ground, but I wouldn't have expected there to be.

I looked up and said something brilliant. Possibly "Oh."

He said "I wanted to brief you, Captain, on the nature of your mission. This is all highly classified, and not to leave this room."

He continued, "The Holly Hop' drive may be the best strategic advance the UFP has ever seen. It is a device that transfers a ship between point A and point B with no time delay, and no passing through the intervening space. An instant elsewhere' drive.

"I am project security on this. I report to people higher up, but you don't need to know who. I'm in charge of seeing that this mission goes through."

I said "So you're in command, here?"

Flagg responded too quickly. " No, of course not! You're the Starship Captain here. I am just here to make sure that the Federations' enemies don't get their hands on it, and that all goes smoothly."

I said "Okay, fine. When do I get the technical stats on this device? I'll need to know all the pertinent details."

Flagg grinned a toothy grin " I'll see that all you need to know is available on your terminal."

"Are there any other ringers in the crew?" I asked

"Li'ira. She's my second. Her actual rank is major."

"How well qualified is she to be a starship's First Officer?"

"Very well. We have briefed her extensively and she has just passed all of her technical exams."

I just looked at him for a moment. A little green? You bet. My head started to throb.

Just then I started really thinking of backing out. Obviously, this was some idiot's pet project. It would doom my career. To get cold feet after I had already taken command would put me back behind that desk, until I retired.

But was career advancement worth my life?

I said "Okay, do I have discretion on choosing the rest of the crew?"

Flagg replied " Of course. You're the Captain."

--

First I read the report on the "Holly Hop". Charles Holly was a quack. His record, the public areas of it, was a litany of promising ideas that just didn't work out, somehow. The math behind his new device was weird. I didn't understand much of it. I wasn't used to that. More importantly, there wasn't enough of it. Not that his equations didn't look authentic, as far as I could ead them, but there were no experimental findings confirming them. There was a report of five unmanned test runs. I was disturbed that each of the five had resulted in damage to the probe used to test the device.

I sought out Holly. He was in Engineering. In the middle of a fairly standard engineering deck, there was his strange device. I'd have missed it, if he hadn't been in the middle of taking it apart. It looked extremely innocuous. It was just a little box added to one side of the "Pool Table" master systems monitor.

"Dr. Holly?" I interrupted.

"Yes, what?" Holly seemed surprised and then slightly annoyed. He was a typical mad scientist. He wore a rumpled sweater with big pockets. The pockets overflowed with tools and doo-dads. His hair was an unruly shock that threatened to fly away. His eyes were large and peered at me as though I were a bug.

"Well now that you're here, you can hand me that." He waved at a bag with a profusion of tools in it. I guessed he wanted a rescalable hydro-spanner and dug it out for him. He grabbed it and returned to his work.

"Sir, I had some questions about the theories that under lie this device." I began.

"You don't understand the math." He said, knowingly.

"Well... yes." I hated to admit it.

"May I ask your qualifications?" He looked at me with an arrogant air.

"I have a degree in higher math from Starfleet Academy, sir, as well as another in Warp Physics." I was proud of my qualifications. I had worked hard for them.

"You are a piker. A dilettante. I don't have the time to complete your neglected education. The question you have asked would require me to spend years explaining it to you with short words and simple diagrams. " He hesitated for effect. "And I'm not certain you could understand it, even then."

I figured Holly was really fun at parties.

"Okay," I tried to rein in my irritation. "Let's discuss observational evidence."

Holly breathed a sigh of deep irritation. He made a performance out of stopping and slamming his tool down on the monitor.

"What about my evidence?" He growled.

"I'm sorry, the report was probably inaccurate. It said you had only test fired five times? And that each time the probe was damaged?"

"That's correct. So?"

"Doesn't that make you suspect that there might be a problem?"

"Oh Fiddle Faddle! Why don't you read the report before you grill me on it next time!" He rounded on me and got right in my face "For your information, Each of the probes suffered a failure that was unrelated to my device." He counted them off.

"Probe one suffered an engine failure following the test and fell into the sun."

"Probe two activated it's self destruct system. I suppose it felt unworthy."

"Probe three suffered a navigation failure and crashed into a cargo ship."

"Probe four suffered a clock failure and never reappeared."

"Probe five had a power system failure and overloaded. All the details are in the report. Each of these problems can be solved by having a living crew aboard to fix them." He turned away "If you don't mind, Lieutenant, I have work to do."

I was pretty sure that last was a dig. I hoped he wasn't that dumb. In any event, talking to this man was going to be mostly useless. I had to try another tack.

--

Quinn said "I can't help you, Jay. All I can say is that I trust you to do the best you can."

"Thank you, Sir." I said through an insincere smile. Well, so much for who you know'. Admiral Quinn's reply let me know several things. Whatever else this project was, it was a political hot potato.

Starfleet had a clever way of dealing with political hot potatoes. They assigned it to a flag officer and got out of the way. If things worked out well, they gave the officer a commendation and said they knew it was going to work all the time. If things didn't work out well, then they blamed it on the flag officer and let him hang in the breeze for it.

I was that man, today.

I wasn't worried about the project itself. I wasn't worried about myself. I would either make it, or not. That was up to me.

What worried me, oddly, was the crew. I didn't even know them. But they were my responsibility. I was afraid of killing a number of them by not covering every angle. It was not a comfortable position.

I needed back up. I couldn't handle the situation by myself. I also didn't trust Flagg as far as I could throw him.

So I went looking for people I could trust.

--

Arthur Hendricks was a thin black man with an easy smile. He was naturally friendly, and it was rather catchy. When I found him, he was cleaning a hydroponics bay on Spacedock.

I had met him a year earlier while investigating a project for Admiral Quinn. I had felt comfortable with Hendricks and had talked too much to him. Soon the entire station knew I was a ringer for Quinn, thanks to Hendricks. They had stopped talking to me. But they hadn't stopped talking to Arthur. I found out all that I wanted to know from him.

He had this special ability to make friends. He was also talented in being in the right place at the right time. It was almost magical. Arthur Hendricks just knew things.

He was still an ensign. It was a safe bet that he was going to be one forever. Hendricks had no sense about who he talked to. Once too many times he had revealed his Commanding Officer's closely held information. He was paying for it by cleaning the hydroponics tanks. He was working alone.

"Good afternoon, Snoopy." Being a snoop was Arthur's talent, it became his nickname. He took to it as a form of rebellion. He even collected the old comic strip and memorabilia from "Peanuts".

"Hi, Captain Hailey." Arthur turned and stood to face me. Did he read my new pips, or did he know already? No matter.

"Arthur, I have a proposition for you..."

--

Lieutenant Green looked up from the PADD and said, "Yeah, the math checks out, but I don't understand it."

I was confused "Come again?" I encouraged.

Green was an overweight man with a crown of fine blonde curls. He looked like some one's little cherub who grew out, but never up. It was an accurate impression. Green was an engineering and mathematical prodigy.

I had met him during another project. He had been inventing away, but not reporting anything. I had quickly solved the problem by assigning him a yeoman who was also a monitor for Admiral Quinn. Green had been left essentially alone since then.

Green had joined Starfleet to seek out strange new machines and take them apart to find out why they worked. There was a little of this in all of us engineers, but for Green it was the end all and be all. It made him a loss as a line officer.

He said "The math is a lot of how' but not a lot of why'. It implies a whole new branch of physics, but doesn't explore it any."

I said "How would you like to see this device, hands on?" Green's eyes lit up. I would have to work harder to cover for him, but I needed information.

--

Dubonich crawled out of the inner workings of the reactor. It was one of about thirteen million small auxiliary reactors on Spacedock.

Ten years had been relatively kind to the old Chief.

"Chief, can you still adjust a mark seven duotronic phase inducer by ear?" I asked.

Ten years earlier, when I had been the chief engineer on the starship USS Akagi. He had performed that feat during a critical event. The rest of the engineering staff never let him live it down.

"Reckon I can, Captain." He answered.

"Would you like another space cruise on your record before you retire?"

Dubonich looked at me thoughtfully. He knew that all was not as it appeared. Being part of the huge Spacedock Engineering crew was a comfortable shore posting. He was one tour or less from retirement and he was doing a relatively easy job there. He seemed to come to a decision. "Reckon I do, Captain."

--

"I know what you're up to, Captain." Flagg said. I could tell he enjoyed saying things like that.

"Oh?" I gave him a stare. We were in my ready room. My own personal tricorder had verified that the room was free of bugs, and my own personal phaser rested completely out of reach in the upper desk drawer.

I'd have to rethink that before the next confrontation came up with Flagg.

"It's not wise, it's not necessary, and it won't work." Flagg continued. "I am not your enemy."

"Are you questioning my choice of crew members, Colonel?" It was all I could think of.

"Yes, Captain. At least here in private." He seemed to think it was an important distinction. "Hendricks is unnecessary at all, and his record indicates he's a danger to the mission. Green is not a good manager, at all. He doesn't have to just fix things, he's got to run the department."

He continued "The only choice here that makes sense from an operational point of view is the collection of NCO's you've put in engineering."

"It all makes sense from my point of view." I said. It was, at least, the truth.

I refused to budge. Colonel Flagg knew that to over ride me would be to name himself Captain. Evidently he didn't think he had the pull for that, because he backed down. I don't know who he was trying to please, but it was evident that the mission hung on Flagg keeping someone happy. He needed me.

"We're on the same side here, Hailey. Think through the potential of this device and soon you'll see the truth." Flagg then turned and left.

I sat and thought a moment. All I could see were problems and I fervently wished that Charles Holly and his device had never come to be.

The door bell to my office rang. "Enter." I said. Li'ira came in. She was still as tight and perfectly regulation as ever. She still produced that pheromone driven rush of lust.

I was finding it easier to deal with as time went on. I didn't even have enough time to worry if that meant that I was getting old.

She handed me a PADD with a status report and went to parade rest. I scanned the PADD. Most of the preparations to leave Spacedock had been completed, but all the reports were too detailed and contained so much useless information, that I had to learn to read between the line to get the basics.

I signed off on her report, and handed it back. "Very good, Commander. It seems we'll leave on schedule after all."

"Sir! Yes, Sir!" She barked. It irritated me when she did that. Once already I had ordered her to loosen up, but she was so uncomfortable with it, that I soon relented. I guestimated that she needed a good drunk, preferably at the Mardi Gras, followed by a torrid affair with a jazz musician. I was amused both by the image of the young woman before me doing anything at all torrid, and by what the look on her face might be if I ordered her to do it. She barked again, and startled me out of my reverie.

"Permission to speak, Sir!"

"Granted." I had to fight to keep from bellowing back.

"Sir, you have no Yeoman, Sir! With respect, will this impair your efficiency!?"

I blinked at her several times. What an excellent idea!

"Commander, you're a genius!" And I rushed out of my office intent on my newest task.

I wonder how Li'ira got herself out of my office without being dismissed?

--

Soon my crew was as complete as it was going to get. I had dashed straight away to Starfleet academy and picked up a fourth year cadet named Yo. He was now taking a cadet cruise aboard the USS Harrier as the First Officer's Yeoman. He was diligent, upright, prepared, industrious and clean. A regular boy scout. I assigned him as Li'ira's yeoman. In that job his boy scout tendencies were put to good use. Li'ira began to loosen up a little now that she had a large fraction of the work load taken off her.

I had also requisitioned a computer expert of my acquaintance from Starfleet Command. He had a sideline in producing holodeck adventures. A friend of mine was an avid computer gamer and had dragged me into one of his holodeck adventures.

About the time my friend and I were trying to harmonize the ancient runes to open the mystic gates, and hating the man who had stuck us in this mess, I had an epiphany.

Most members of Starfleet Security were well trained grunts. They were very good at the application of force under orders from the ship's officers.

But the reason for their reputation as grunts and "Redshirts" was that there was too much detail to ever hope to train them to deal with every contingency. But I had wanted these evil Holodeck exercises for another reason.

I felt that with the proper stimuli, the "Redshirts" under my command could learn to think creatively on their feet. They could learn to duck and to cheat, and to change the rules on their opponents.

I wanted a team of Redshirts that would cause enemy commanders and villains to tear their hair out in frustration.

So I contacted the author of these Holodeck Role Playing Games, and discovered that he was Ensign Gerald Bruce, a computer specialist at Starfleet Command. I drafted him, using my "Captain's prerogative". After assigning him to the position of Captain's Yeoman. I told him of my plan and sent him to work on it.

--

Soon the time came for the USS Harrier to leave Spacedock. It had been two weeks of hair pulling and nail biting. The actual event I will never forget.

I arrived on the bridge at about 08:55 in the morning. Li'ira had stopped barking orders, and now stated them with exaggerated calm. I supposed that Colonel Flagg had given her more extensive briefings. She was in the center seat readying the USS Harrier to fly.

The bridge of the USS Harrier was old fashioned. It was suited more to a ship from thirty years ago, than a test bed of modern technology. It even had he old fashioned Nav/Helm console as a single unit near the front of the bridge.

But all the displays were letter perfect, and the patter on the bridge could have come out of any manual.

"Main Deuterium Feed"

"Check"

"Power Generation, all modes"

"Power generation, all modes, shows green"

"Navigational feed"

"Starfleet NavCom updated at zero-hundred hours, all checked"

"Main Sensor class three diagnostic"

"Check, Main Sensor nominal."

"Time: T-Minus five minutes and counting"

"All Hands! All Hands! T-Minus five!"

Et cetera. I'm sure the technical jargon is boring to you, but to me it was the language of a smooth operation, ready to roll.

It was as though nothing were weird or spooky about the whole event so far, and I let myself go with it.

"Captain on the Bridge!" Snapped the officer of the bridge. The whole bridge stopped and stood up. I stood for a moment, acutely embarrassed. It helped to realize that the "Captain" was a role that the whole ship looked up to. It wasn't me, it was the office. And I knew that I had to make it look good and give the kids in the crew their magic feather.

I looked around briefly and made sure that each of the bridge crew saw me looking at them. And then I let the grin spread across my face.

"Excellent." I said. "As you were." I really wanted to say "Coooool!" But it wouldn't have seemed captainly. I think that most of them got it.

"Report, Commander?" I asked Li'ira. It was pro forma, but that made it important, even so.

"All systems up, and running to specifications. All departments report secure and ready for space, Captain." Her eyes were straight ahead, and I could almost see the proper manual pages flashing across her mind.

"Very Good, Commander." I made the proper reply, and then took my place at the center of the circus.

I remember that the next few minutes seemed to take forever, but I can't specifically recall why. Two minutes later I said "Communications, give my compliments to Spacedock, and request departure clearance."

Flagg responded "Aye, Sir."

The clearance was given, and I said, "Commander, take us out." Then I remembered, had she ever done this before?

But her technical training was without fault. The USS Harrier made a textbook departure and took off across Earth's solar system at a leisurely one half impulse.

"Put us on the specified heading, and inform me when we reach the testing site, please, Commander." I ordered. "You have the bridge."

Then I got up and had to straighten that damned two piece uniform. We had recently switched from a form fitting jump suit that really left too little to the imagination, to a two piece version. The two piece was a little easier, but it led to something that was called "The Picard Maneuver" after the famous Starship Captain. The jacket of the uniform had a tendency to ride up on the tummy, and whenever one stood up, it needed to be pulled down and straightened to restore the trim.

I performed "The Picard maneuver" and went to the turbo lift. I figured one truly was a captain when they could keep their dignity through the trials of Starfleet uniforms. I wasn't there, yet.

I went to the engineering room. Lt. Green and Charles Holly were up to their elbows in Holly's strange device. I caught the eye of Chief Dubonich. He looked pointedly at Lt. Green and gave an eloquent shrug. All around the engineering room, things were busy.

The first launch of a ship just out of refit is a cranky business. But the old chiefs were running the fresh young engineers every which way around the compartment, and all seemed quite well in hand.

I approached the two men in the center of the action. Over the background noise of the engineering room, I heard them talking gibberish. I assumed it was mathematical notations on the operation of the device, but for all of me, it could have been Swahili.

"Lt. Green, report." I ordered. The Chief Engineer of the USS Harrier looked at me in surprise, and then glanced around at his department.

"Uh," He groped "Everything seems okay, Captain."

"What is the meaning of this interruption!?" Charles Holly demanded. I supposed it had been awhile since he had met anyone with whom he could talk shop.

"Well, sir, I was wondering if the device would be ready for its test on time." I tried to speak soothingly without letting Holly know I thought he was a mad quack. I shouldn't have bothered. I could have told him that the ship was under attack for all the notice he took of me.

"Yes, yes, tell Starfleet that their precious drive will be ready on time." And then he turned back to Green and launched into another spate of gobbledy gook. Green had the good grace to at least look embarrassed as he was swept away on a mathematical tide.

I went to Chief Dubonich and said "Chief, how's she holding together?"

Dubonich looked at me, pointedly. His expression asked the question when to voice it would have been insubordinate. Did I know what I was doing? "She's a good ship sir, all the new equipment is settling in, you know how it is." Then he switched his gaze to Holly and Green "Figure they'll blow us up with that thing, sir?"

"I wanted to speak to you about that. Do you think the isolation fields could hold it if his doo-hickey just plain explodes? " I asked. I thought it was a good possibility. I had also measured the potential of the blast if Charles Holly's' device simply took the energy we fed it, and used it to explode. The fields in the engineering room should hold.

Dubonich looked at me. "Think it'll break that way, Captain?"

"I want to cover every possibility, Chief."

"Yes, sir, I think we can come through that, all right."

--

I told myself I would then go to my office, and have a productive working day.

I didn't. I spent the rest of the day making a nuisance out of myself.

I toured the USS Harrier, more or less at random, and poked my nose into nearly every compartment. It was difficult enough for the new crew to get into the routine of their new jobs, but that day, I made it worse. Nobody could turn around, it seemed, without me being there to offer my useless and interfering comments.

I suppose they were mostly smart enough to say "Yes, Sir!" And then do it the right way when I was out of sight again. But there wasn't a department that I missed.

Ten hours later, I returned to the bridge. A satisfactory report awaited me there, and I retired for the evening. We were right on schedule and would arrive at the test site, near the edge of the solar system, the next morning.

I had given us a roundabout course to the test site to give the ship a chance to shake down. We weren't really supposed to be going much of anywhere, but I preferred to have the ship a little more comfortable with itself when we finally tested the Holly Hop drive.

-To Be Continued-


	2. Chapter 2

REP: Star Trek: Outwardly Mobile (OCC - TNG era) 02 - The Holly Hop Incident Continued, PG 1/1

Title: Star Trek: Outwardly Mobile 02 - The Holly Hop Incident Continued

Author: Jay P Hailey ST-OM, OCC - TNG era 02/54?

Rating:PG

Archive: Fine with me, just tell me where.

Disclaimer: Paramount owns all things Star Trek. I claim Original Characters and Situations for me.

Webpage HTTP://jayphailey. Trek: Outwardly Mobile

Episode 02 - The Holly Hop Incident Continued

(Stardate 44623)

By

Jay P. Hailey

and

Dennnis Washburn

_/"Captain's Log: Stardate 44623.1" /_

_/"The USS Harrier has maneuvered to the edge of Earth's solar system. All ship's systems are functioning well. The crew is settling in to their duties quickly. We will begin the test of the experimental drive this morning." /_

"Red Alert" I ordered.

The bridge lights flashed red and the alarm announced red alert to the rest of the USS Harrier. All around me I could see the crew struggling to trim the unfamiliar ship for action. I couldn't tell right off the top of my head if they were doing it well or not. I was somewhat unfamiliar with the ship, myself.

Soon enough, we were rigged for battle. Or whatever. "Bridge to Engineering." I opened the channel.

"Report, please."

"Engineering here." Answered Lieutenant Green, my Chief Engineer. In the background I could hear two things. First, I heard Chief Dubonich telling Green "All Secure, sir, power systems nominal."

I could also hear Charles Holly yelling "What is the point of that racket? What are they up to on the bridge now?" Green Reported. " All secure in Engineering. Dr. Holly reports that he is go for the test."

"Very good." I replied. "We will test the drive in thirty seconds."

Green replied "Aye, Captain."

"Finally!" Holly shouted.

"All hands! All hands! Test in thirty seconds!" Li'ira barked. I thought that this was very efficient and considerate of her, but a look at Lt. Colonel Flagg's face showed that he was displeased. No doubt he felt that the rest of the crew didn't have a need to know'.

Thirty seconds went by. It seemed to take forever. I sat in the center seat and struggled not to fidget. I caught Li'ira's eye. It was plain that she was tense, but controlled. She seemed almost amused at my discomfort. But she wasn't about to let it show.

"Ten...nine...eight...seven..." Spaat, our big Vulcan helmsman was counting down. His name might have been a source of humor, except that he was built like a football player. It would have taken hours to explain to him why that would make a difference. Ensign Spaat was young, as far as Vulcans went.

"Power to the Holly Device." Reported Harksain Varupuchu, our uptight Andorian Operations Officer. Everything had to be perfect for Lieutenant Varupuchu. Our current mission disturbed his conscientious nature.

"Shields and weapons are at stand by." Flagg reported. Flagg was actually my equal in rank, but he was under cover as the Chief of Security for the USS Harrier.

"Four... three... two... one..." Spaat reported.

"Device activated." Lt. Varupuchu reported.

There was a flicker and the stars on the screen were different. That was all there was to it. I didn't feel a thing.

"Mr. Spaat, please get a fix on our position." I ordered. I felt a little let down.

"There are no other vessels nearby. No damage reported. No casualties or injuries." Flagg reported.

"Stand down from red alert, please. Go to yellow alert." I ordered.

"Mr. Spaat, what's keeping that position report?" Li'ira asked.

"I am calculating our position now, sir." Spaat replied. "Our current position is sector Delta Gamma, near Mereau 4." He proceeded to give us our position very, very exactly. As I said, Spaat was somewhat young for a Vulcan.

"Uh oh," I thought. That wasn't where we were supposed to be.

Spaat continued "I had to calculate our position from natural land marks. I am not receiving any signals from the navigational buoys."

My head throbbed. I could almost feel my blood pressure rising. With effort, I controlled myself. There was no need to jump to conclusions.

"Open a channel to Starfleet Command." I said. We were still in range for real time communications.

Flagg reported "I can't raise Starfleet Command, Captain."

Li'ira ordered "Lt. Commander, check all subspace frequencies, Starfleet and civilian."

"Aye, Sir," Flagg responded "No subspace signals detected within our range."

"Lt. Commander Flagg, please run a level three diagnostic on the communications array." I ordered. Rule one: Check to see if it's plugged in.

I called Engineering. I could hear Green and Holly babbling. They both seemed very happy. "Engineering report!" I spoke sharply to get their attention. Perhaps I was still tense.

"It worked! It worked!" Holly shouted "I told you! Stick that in your Starfleet pipe and smoke it!"

"Dr. Holly could your device interfere with the operations of subspace communications?" I asked, in as reasonable a tone as I could manage.

"Huh? I don't think so..." Holly sounded like he wasn't following me.

"Disconnect the device, immediately. We seem to have misjumped." I ordered

"But, but..." Holly began.

Lt. Green jumped in over Holly's protest. "Aye, Sir!" And the channel cut off.

"Captain, the communications systems are intact and fully functional." Flagg reported. There was no doubt who was in command now.

"No interference detected by the sensors, Captain." Varupuchu reported.

I thought for a moment. "What's our range to Mereau 4?"

"At warp six, our ETA is 4 hours, 9 minutes, and 23 seconds, approximately." Spaat reported.

"Very good. Set course for Mereau 4 and engage at warp 6." I gave the order as though this happened every day.

"Commander, you have the bridge." I left the bridge headed for Engineering. I had to talk to Holly.

In engineering, everything seemed to be running smoothly. The old NCOs were seated at their panels, keeping things under control, while the junior engineers ran to fetch thing and conduct the minor repairs.

In the middle of the smoothly functioning department, Lt. Green and Charles Holly had the "Holly Hop" about half dismantled and disconnected from the master systems monitor. The two men were engaged in a heavily technical discussion, oblivious to the ship and crew around them.

"Dr. Holly, " I began as I approached. Holly's hair had grown wilder, if possible, and he had a strange device on his face. I recognized a micro scanner mounted on spectacle frames. It was a good idea, allowing Holly to look into the guts of his device while keeping both hands free. But the pickups in front of his eyes made him look like a bug.

"Why have we misjumped?"

Holly pushed the scanners back from his face. He looked grim and distracted. He mumbled something.

I said "I'm sorry, come again?"

He said "I don't know." And I could tell he hated to say it.

I wanted to laugh at him. I wanted to yell "Hah! Dumb shit know-it-all! Looks like you weren't as smart as you thought!" The thought occurred to me, however, that we might need to recreate the misjump to get back where we belonged. Besides, he really looked miserable.

Instead I said "We have wound up in the vicinity of Mereau 4. I'll have navigational data downloaded to your panel if you want."

Holly shook his head "No, no, that's not necessary, Captain." He returned to his work.

"When you find out what happened, please tell me immediately." I said and returned to the bridge.

--

We entered the Mereau system 4 hours later, just as Mr. Spaat had said. You don't have to worry about a Vulcan being inaccurate, usually. There were no sentry and communications satellites at the edge of the system.

By long tradition, the jurisdiction of the Federation ends at the edge of a solar system. Most member worlds will let Starfleet ships operate inside these boundaries. There are always markers to let you know whose territory you just entered, and to let them know that you are there.

As we approached the planet Mereau 4, I ordered "Scan the planet, please, Mr. Varupuchu." And with his customary efficiency, he did so.

The results were confusing. There was no evidence of Federation technology on the planet. Nor any hint of warp speed vehicles.

There were fusion reactors, but it was obvious from the scans that they were different from the impulse reactors that were the Federation standard. There were satellites in orbit, but they were fairly primitive.

Just to check I ran a search of the archives. There were historical accounts of satellites from pre-contact Mereau 4, which seemed similar. The satellites we could see were different from the historical accounts, though. They were bigger and more advanced.

I figured that these were "Spy" satellites. Earth had spawned these during the "Cold War". Before any of the scientific uses for earth orbiting satellites were discovered, all the tools had been invented for military reconnaissance. A perverse and backwards road into space, but, hey, it worked.

I knew that "Spy" satellites were not commonly known. In my work with old records at Starfleet Command I had run across records that were still classified after four hundred years. I declassified them, of course.

The existence of a "Spy" satellite in orbit around Mereau 4 just served to tell me that my initial guess had been correct. We had been thrown back in time by the malfunctioning Holly Hop' drive.

However the sensors also reported the population of Mereau 4 to be 4 billion. The population of Mereau 4 has never been greater than 2.5 billion.

We retreated from Mereau 4 and back in to deep space.

--

It was my first briefing as Captain. The whole command staff was there except for Lt. Green the Chief Engineer. I would have liked Dr. Holly there, too, but they were still up to their armpits in Holly's device.

I started the meeting "Good evening. We're here to discuss options for dealing with our current situation. First, Commander Li'ira will update us." I nodded to the Orion woman.

"The situation is not entirely known." She started out "Sensors have detected no hint of Federation activity or presence in this sector. It is not known what happened with the "Holly Hop" drive or if the fault can be repaired. Aside from that, all departments seem as ready as can be expected, and the ship is functioning normally and within specifications."

I caught myself thinking that she had updated us too well. What was left to say? "Anything else?" I asked the room at large.

Spaat gave us the results of his investigation. "We do not seem to have traveled in time. There are a number of stellar phenomena whose appearance changes with time. By measuring the changes of various objects in the interstellar medium, and cross referencing the effects seen, a measure of our place in time can be made. I have cross referenced fifteen different objects using the stellar cartography sensors. Our current time and external time match to approximately 2 hours. I can give a more accurate placement in 2 hours when I have more observations done."

Our Chief Medical Officer Dr. Joseph Miskele was next. He was as old as dirt and twice as crusty. He was about five minutes shy of retirement age. He started off his report in a crotchety tone.

"Since we have no ship's counselor on this tub, I suppose I'm it. The crew isn't a crew yet. We're a bunch of strangers stuck on a ship. I expect this to improve over time, what with all that danger shared' stuff. But right now we're riding on inertia and the ingrained habits of discipline." He paused. "Not the most comfortable position to be in, but I've seen worse."

I wondered what that might have been. I really shouldn't have thought of it.

"Any one else?" I asked. No one seemed to have anything else to contribute. "All right then, dismissed." And I stood. The rest of the command staff filed out. Except for Li'ira and Flagg.

As soon as everyone else had left, Flagg said "Computer, secure this room."

The computer beeped, and after a moment it said "The room is secure."

Flagg rounded on me. "I want you to understand that Holly's device must not fall into the wrong hands."

I was taken aback "Huh? What are you talking about?"

"Holly's device." He repeated slowly. "It is paramount to the safety of the Federation that no other agency or nation gain control of it."

"Why not?" I said "It doesn't seem to work! Why are you worried about this right now?"

He repeated again, with peculiar intensity, "The security of the device must be maintained."

"Do you have reason to suspect someone in the crew of tampering with the device?" I asked in a formal tone of voice. He was treading on dangerous ground by insisting that the security of the "Holly Hop" was compromised when there was no one but the crew aboard.

He stopped and grinned knowingly "I request permission to increase security around the device, Captain."

I hesitated. Obviously I didn't know the whole story. But Flagg's request was a reasonable one. "Granted." I said, feeling like I was making a mistake.

--

In the end, I decided to head back to Earth on normal warp drives. I didn't expect it to do us any good directly, but I figured that any new information would help.

The trip was going to take about 10 days at warp six. As we left the ship began to settle into a routine. Routines are good for a ship in deep space. Ours, was, of course somewhat strained.

Within a few days it was obvious that Li'ira was doing a good job as the first officer. I was shocked. She was young, and she was a spook. But she took to shipboard life like she was born to it.

She rang the bell and entered my office.

"Commander," I said "Do you mind if I ask you a personal question?"

She came to attention. I had just recently broken her of that. "I would prefer it if you didn't, Captain." She looked straight ahead at the bulk head in back of me.

"Naturally. I understand your position." I thought for a moment. "Actually the question I had in mind is generic to Starfleet. You answered it when you applied to the Academy."

That got her curiosity working. "Which one is that, Captain?"

"Why did you choose to join Starfleet?" I quoted from the entrance exam. This wasn't a coincidence, and I don't remember things that well. I had tried to look up her records. It took all of my clearance just to get the computer to allow that she might exist. No details were released, though. I had read the question on her application, and the saw the writing blocked out as "Classified." The authorization to classify Starfleet Academy records came from Col. Flagg.

She looked at me frankly. She was irritated. "Because the Federation embodies some things that are very important to me. It must be preserved. By what ever means necessary."

"What does the Federation embody to you?" I prompted.

She was more emotional now. She threw caution to the winds along with proper procedure. "You expect me to say freedom', don't you? You have probably guessed that I was born a slave and then rescued. And that I then dedicated myself to Starfleet in thanks for my new found freedom."

"Well you're wrong!" She yelled "I was born on a Federation registered free trader. I have ALWAYS been free. People see my green skin, or smell me, and assume that I am some sort of geisha, or pirate. I am not."

She pointed at my chest "And you should know better. The Federation is about knowing better, and acting better. There are many Federation Citizens' who don't act these principals out."

The hell of it is, she was dead right. I had made many of the same assumptions that she had pointed out. I had assumed things from the color of her skin. It wasn't a comfortable revelation. She had answered another question of mine during her outburst.

"You were born on a free trader?" I asked.

"The SS Carbuncle, Sir." She seemed to regain control of herself. As I watched she blushed, from green to deeper green. It was sort of fun to watch.

"That explains why you're so good at ship board routine." I observed.

"Yes, Sir. Thank you, Captain." She remembered the report in her hand. She put it on my desk quickly, as though she had taken too long to complete her business. "These are the crew reports you wanted, Captain."

I took them. "Thank you, Commander. Dismissed." She turned to leave.

"Oh, Commander?" I called. She turned to face me. Her blush had died down as her self control had reasserted itself.

"When one reads off a superior officer, it is customary to request permission to speak freely." I reminded her, wryly.

"Yes, Captain. Thank you." Her blush returned as she left.

--

It was a couple of days later when we spotted the starship. It was crossing our path ahead of us, moving slowly. As we closed, Lt. Varupuchu scanned the ship. I ordered us to approach slowly, and take up a standard contact stance.

What Varupuchu saw was a primitive ship. It was making warp three. It might have gone as high as warp four. It had similarly primitive navigational scanners and defenses.

Now, I was faced with a problem. If we were lost in time, the contact might violate the Prime Directive. It might disrupt the flow of history. I had read accounts, in my time in the records department, of some of the things that had happened to time traveling Starfleet personnel. Captain Kirk and Dr. McCoy at The Guardian of Forever were just the tip of the iceberg.

But unless we did something, it seemed we were stuck. I ordered the Harrier to cross in front of the unknown vessel, to trigger their primitive navigational sensors.

We came out of warp just as the alien ship did, and we hailed her with a sublight communications beam.

"This is the starship Harrier." I said in the hail "We are on a peaceful mission of exploration, and mean no harm. Will you speak with us?"

Flagg reported "Alien ship coming around. It has raised shields, and has armed weapons. Laser cannon and particle beams armed. Electronic activity detected in the missiles."

I ordered "Raise Shields to minimum power, sound yellow alert." The klaxon sounded as Flagg reported "Aye, Captain."

The Alien ship answered our hail. There was a face of some kind on the view screen, but it looked like an electron microscope scan of an insect. It chittered and spit for a bit, and then the universal translator kicked in.

"We are an allied ship. We respect your curiosity, and will to explore. It is with the deepest regret and sympathy that we call for your immediate and unconditional surrender."

Now this was an interesting development. The lasers and particle beams of the alliance ship couldn't damage us. Not with the defensive systems operating, even at minimum power. The missiles were just as primitive and susceptible to our technology.

I came to a quick decision. "We surrender." Li'ira gave me a shocked look and then recovered her poker face. I was getting better at reading her, now that I was getting to know her.

Varupuchu and Spaat gave me a perfectly timed significant stare in unison, and the returned their attention to their stations. Flagg sputtered "But, I mean... You can't..."

I turned around and gave Flagg the order to cut audio. As soon as he did I said "Don't tell me what I can or can't do, Lieutenant Commander! Follow your orders!"

I turned back to the screen where the insect was waiting for audio patiently. Once the channel had been restored, he said "You will follow our instructions explicitly, or be destroyed. You will follow us along this course until told to stop. Any hostile action or resistance will be grounds for your regrettable destruction."

"I understand. Where are we going?" I replied.

"No questions. Comply, please." And the channel was cut.

As soon as the channel was closed I said "Does anyone have any idea of what those were?" As I expected there were no positive answers.

"The alien ship is turning about and preparing to enter warp, Captain." Varupuchu reported.

"Very good, Mr. Spaat, please follow that ship." I always wanted to say that.

"Aye, sir." Spaat replied.

"Mr. Varupuchu, please scan all data banks and historical records for word of these creatures. Mr. Flagg, please come to my ready room. Commander, you have the bridge." I went into the tiny office just off the bridge of the USS Harrier.

Flagg followed me in. I rounded on him "What the hell do you mean questioning my orders on the bridge!"

"You can't surrender the device to those aliens!" Flagg got right back in my face.

"Who said anything about turning the device over to anybody!? Question me on the bridge again and be prepared to relive me, Colonel!" I was quite hot under the collar myself.

"What?" Flagg seemed taken aback "Why did you surrender?"

"I was hoping to gain more information from these aliens. With their technology, there's no way they can board us or fire on us without us knowing about it well in advance. So I played along, hoping to get more information." I could feel the flush in my face and knew that I didn't look at all like the restrained and controlled image of command "I'm not used to having my decisions questioned or debated! Decide who is in command right now, and then stick to it!"

Flagg quieted down quite a bit. "I'm sorry, Captain Hailey. It won't happen again." He seemed quite contrite and abashed. But I didn't believe it. The issue wasn't going to be settled that easily.

We left the ready room and returned to the bridge.

--

The trip to the rendezvous took four days. The days were quiet, and free of incident. Repeated questions beamed to the Alliance ship resulted in brief replies requesting silence.

There were no records in our archives of anything resembling the aliens. A complete scan of their ship was compiled. It didn't take long to scan the frequencies of their primitive shields and start slipping sensor scans in.

We got good scans and information about a race no one in the Federation had ever seen.

I stood the Harrier down from yellow alert early on, but each watch was told to keep a good eye on the situation.

On the night of the fourth day, I was asleep in my cabin, when the yellow alert went off and I was summoned to the bridge.

"Report." I said, as I stepped out on to the bridge. I was sleepy. I was trying to cover, and not yawn. It wasn't the most pleasant experience I had ever had.

Truth to tell, I had almost run down to Engineering first. It had been since I was the Chief Engineer on the USS Akagi since I had been woken up by a yellow alert.

"We have gone sublight. There are twelve ships in the area, moving towards us at about one quarter impulse speed." Spaat reported.

"Hail the alliance ship that we were following."

"Aye, Captain." The call was placed.

The aliens answered "Please stand by."

As we watched, the alien fleet formed up and began to en globe us.

"Hail them again."

The call was answered by another ship, and a different bug. "We are the alliance fleet. We have heard of your polite behavior and wish to express our sincere appreciation. As a gesture of our gratitude, we agree to kill you as quickly and as painlessly as possible. We hope you continue to be as considerate as you have shown yourself to be, by not resisting, or destroying any of your advanced technology. Thus can our war be ended quickly, with a minimum of pain and suffering."

"Are you sure there is no room for discussion of this?" I asked.

"Regrettably not."

"Thank you." I turned to Flagg and made the motion to cut the channel. "Helm, begin evasive maneuvers at full impulse. As soon as we are clear, go to warp speed. Raise the shields to full power. "I was giving the orders with a calm I did not feel. It seemed distant, and not entirely real.

"Aye, Captain." Spaat said as he keyed the commands. The Harrier leapt away from the formation of alliance ships.

"Shall I arm weapons, Captain?" Flagg asked. Was he asking because he wanted to blow up the insects, or because he thought it would be in character?

"No," I replied "It's not necessary."

It wasn't a few moments before we were well away from the alliance ships. The USS Harrier strained under full impulse thrust, but her hull was still tight, and the inertial dampers were brand new and functioning perfectly.

Soon we had put enough distance between ourselves and the Alliance ships to return to normal cruise conditions. I set us on a course for Earth.

--

We were back in the briefing room, again.

"There is no way ships that primitive could have made it this far into the Federation, with that kind of attitude." I stated the obvious. "Any opinions?"

"If they could not have overcome Federation defenses, and they were in the heart of the Federation, then logic suggests that the defenses of the inner Federation were incapable of responding." Spaat pointed out.

"What might have kept the Federation from responding?" Varupuchu asked. It was plain he didn't approve of this line of reasoning.

"There are several possibilities." Spaat said. He was working on expanding them when I interrupted.

"It's obvious to me that we don't have enough information. Let's define what we know."

"They have met humans before." Flagg said. We all just looked at him. "Thus can our war be ended quickly,'" Flagg quoted. "Their war with whom?"

"That's quite a leap." I said "Their war might be with anyone."

"Hmmmm." Flagg responded doubtfully.

The rest of the briefing went downhill. We just didn't know enough.

--

We continued on a course for Earth. I noticed two contradictory things at about this time. First, things around the Harrier were running more smoothly. The crew was settling in, and learning their tasks. The second was that morale was at the same time failing. We were lost under unknown circumstances, traveling around at random, because I couldn't think of anything better to do.

The cure for bad morale is easily said, but not easily accomplished. Knowing the source of the problem didn't help in this instance, because there wasn't a whole lot I could do about it. The next step in the manual was to keep the crew busy. A crew that's hard at work doesn't have time to think depressing thoughts, and emotionally feels that are accomplishing something, even if it doesn't help with the actual problem.

With this in mind I started classes on the Harrier. I found people with useful or odd skills, and asked them to teach a class of their crew mates. To my delight, most of them accepted.

Starfleet is about learning things. It's always been an adventure about exploring the unknown. I had a crew of people who wanted to run around in a starship and see new things. Maybe the classes weren't magnificent new discoveries, but they were unknown to the people who took them, and learning was something we had all had trained into us at Starfleet Academy.

The morale problem stopped getting worse, and maybe even got a little better. We were still lost, and the crew wasn't stupid, but many of us now had a project to while away the time with until we learned something new about our predicament.

Then we spotted another ship.

"Report." I ordered.

Varupuchu replied "Scans show a fairly primitive warp signature, but it's not an alliance ship."

"Close in and continue scans." I said. As we closed with the unknown ship, we detected their energy output and warp efficiency. We detected subspace sensors, of a particularly primitive nature, as well as an identification beacon. The beacon read USS Hood NCC 1703.

--

In the briefing room, the command staff and I were trying it again.

We were shadowing the primitive Hood outside their sensor range, while we discussed what we would do.

"It is almost certainly not the USS Hood with which we were familiar." Spaat stated. He read off a list of statistics and showed a series of scan analysis that showed that this USS Hood was much more primitive than ours.

"I think we're clear on that. The question becomes weather or not we wish to contact them." I said, trying to narrow the subject down.

"I recommend against that." Li'ira said "It would be a clear violation of the Prime Directive.

"Although it would be nice to know more, I agree" said Flagg. "We are, after all, on a sensitive mission."

The consensus seemed to be that contacting the primitive USS Hood would be a bad idea, because of the Prime Directive. My problem was that if the Hood was too primitive to contact, The Earth was probably going to be, too. If we couldn't go to Earth, where could we go? I couldn't handle just drifting around waiting for something break our way.

"I have an idea..." I began

--

Later as I left the briefing room, Snoopy came up to me. I had secured a promotion to Lieutenant, Junior Grade for Arthur. Flagg didn't like him and tried to keep him away from Engineering. So it was a surprise when he said to me "Lt. Green wants to see you in Engineering, Captain."

I followed the security officer to the Engineering room. Green and Holly were there, next to the master systems monitor, and the Holly Hop.

"You wanted to see me, Lieutenant?" I spoke to Green. Green was nervous, and looked to Holly. Holly's eyes were large and he was quiet.

"Report, please." I said to them.

"Well, ah, it's quite extraordinary." Holly began.

"We discovered the source of the misjump, Sir." Green jumped in.

Holly continued "Working on a line of reasoning suggested by young Lieutenant Hendrickson, we have discovered the source of the malfunction." He looked worried.

"Yes, go on." I prompted.

"There was no malfunction, Captain. The device was tampered with."

"Are you certain!?" This was grim news indeed.

"Yes, in fact the interference was ingenious. It uses factors within the device that I had not fully explored." Holly said. He was excited. Mad science was in the offing.

My head swam. "Was this deliberate?"

Green and Holly Looked downcast. "We think so."

"What did the saboteur expect to gain from this ?" I asked.

Hendrickson answered. "We can't tell, yet, Captain."

"Can you put us back where we belong?" I asked.

"I need more time to examine what was done." Holly said.

"Then get on it!" I ordered, oblivious to Holly's civilian status.

--

For the next day, we engaged in a furious bout of preparations. All the while, I was waiting for results from Green and Holly. It was not a comfortable situation.

Soon we were ready to begin.

-To Be Continued-


	3. Chapter 3

REP: Star Trek: Outwardly Mobile Episode 03 - The Holly Hop Incident (Conclusion), PG 1/1

Title: Star Trek: Outwardly Mobile Episode 03 - The Holly Hop Incident (Conclusion)Author: Jay P Hailey ST-OM, OCC - TNG era 03/55?  
Rating:PG  
Archive: Fine with me, just tell me where.  
Disclaimer: Paramount owns all things Star Trek. I claim Original Characters and Situations for me.  
Webpage HTTP://jayphailey. Trek: Outwardly Mobile

Episode 03 - The Holly Hop Incident (Conclusion)

(Stardate 44630)

By

Jay P. Hailey

And

Dennnis Washburn

_/"Captain's Log: Stardate 44630.3/_

_/"The Harrier is about to make contact with the USS Hood. This Hood is not the starship we know. It is oddly different and primitive./_

_/I have decided to conceal the Harriers' origin as a Federation starship, so that we don't interfere in history./_

_/Lt. Green and Dr. Holly feel that they are close to identifying the malfunction of Holly's' device, and possibly returning us home./_

_/Until then, we are continuing our efforts to find out just where or when we are, and what's really happening here."/_

"Are we ready?" I asked. 

Yes, Captain." Li'ira answered. 

"Then let's do it. Helm, plot an intercept course and engage." 

The Harrier approached the other starship. Soon we were within their sensor range. 

"They have scanned us." Varupuchu reported. 

"Helm, take us to one half impulse speed." I responded. 

"Aye, Captain." Spaat said. He took the Harrier smoothly to sublight velocity. 

Varupuchu watched his scanners. "The Hood has come about and is now approaching us. They have stepped up scanning. Our sensors show an increased readiness in their weapons and shields." 

I stood up, and tried to collect my thoughts. They were slippery. "Yellow alert. Hail them." I said. 

Flagg said "Hailing, Captain." He watched his board "They are responding. I have an open channel." 

I figured there was no point in waiting to double think myself. I took one last look around the bridge. All Starfleet and Federation insignia had been covered over. Our badges had been replaced as well as our rank insignia. 

The control panels of the Harriers' bridge were emulating a dozen different languages and software. Lt. Bruce had thought that it would give the gag away if all the control panels read in English. The only problem was there wasn't another single language that everyone knew. There wasn't another single computer protocol that everyone could operate with. In the end I had ordered everyone to use what they could, and hoped that the different appearances could be glossed over. 

As a result, Varupuchu was flipping through "pages" on his panel, each another function of his station, while Spaat seemed to be having a musical interlude, his control panel operating in an obscure Vulcan dialect that used musical tones. 

In an attempt to cover this, I had ordered a tight focus on myself as we hailed the other USS Hood. 

The screen came up and there was the Captain of the USS Hood. I didn't know him, but he looked the part. He was a male human about my age. His gray hair was cropped extremely short and his face was composed. His uniform was a maroon coverall with pockets and loops all over it. I could see instruments in various pockets. There were not enough to be a burden, just enough so that he didn't have to waste valuable time looking for a pen or something. 

There were patches and "scrambled egg" braid here and there. The man was a walking bill board advertising his rank, assignment, status, some of his history, and about a dozen other things. 

He was even wearing a baseball cap with "USS Hood, NCC 1703" embroidered on it. 

I wouldn't have been surprised to see waistcoats and breeches on the bridge of the other ship. 

He said "This is the Federation starship Hood. Please identify yourself." My universal translator obligingly repeated every word. 

"Wop-bop-a-lu-bop, bing bang boom!" I said, to tell him that our universal translator hadn't heard enough to make an accurate translation. I heard his translator beep helplessly along with mine. The universal translator hasn't been built that can handle doo wop music. 

The Captain of the Hoods' eyes bugged out. He looked extremely surprised and shocked. I remembered somewhat belatedly that if this man was from Earth, then he and I shared cultural references. 

"Er, Which way is the bathroom?" I shouted in Klingon. I heard someone cough behind me. 

"This is very nice.. Er Killing!" I had almost used the Klingon word for chocolate. It sounds like "chocolate." The Klingons didn't have any chocolate until they met Earth people. 

Now the Captain of the other Hood looked appropriately confused. In first contact situations, confused is good. It's when you think you know what's going on that you're in trouble. 

"I am Captain MacDougal of the Federation Starship USS Hood." The other Captain said. He began to tell me of the United Federation of Planets, slowly. It was standard procedure when awaiting translator lock. 

Harksain Varupuchu caught my attention and made a gesture. I took it to mean that the translators on the USS Hood were about to lock on. It might have meant that he wanted a transfer, judging by the look on his face. 

"We are on a peaceful exploration mission. We wish friendly contact." This was difficult to phrase in Klingonese. 

The translators beeped and repeated the statement in English. I got the feeling that I was going to have a sore throat before this was done. 

"I understand," said Captain MacDougal. "We also wish peaceful contact. Please tell us more about yourselves." 

"We are from the Twelve Colonies. It is a political union of planets some distance from here." I waved vaguely at the Harrier's port side. 

I don't know where Lt. Bruce got "The Twelve Colonies," but it seemed to do the trick for the moment. I exchanged a series of details about this mythical place with the other USS Hood. Most of them I was remembering from Lt. Bruce's' "Extensive briefing." Some of it I had to make up on the spot. 

"Lt. Commander" Flagg had a perfectly straight poker face. There was no telling what he thought of this mess. 

"Are you a single species, or do you have others as part of your political union?" MacDougal asked. 

"We are composed of many races, at this time." I said "And you?" 

I didn't really listen to the answer. MacDougal should have been offering more, if we were reading from the same book. He was holding back and stonewalling. The answer to that came up next. 

"What can you tell us of an insectoid race in the direction of Orion?" I asked. Perhaps they knew more about the "Alliance" we had met earlier. 

"Ah, those damned bugs." MacDougal looked sour. "They have been trying to exterminate us. The war has been going on for two years now. We fought them off just recently." He looked haunted "It cost us five starships." 

"I'm sorry." I said. What else could I say? 

"We are interested in learning more about you." I continued "Perhaps we could speak in person, or even visit your Federation?" 

"Perhaps." MacDougal said, "I'd be interested in seeing your ship." I thought he would be. It was two hundred years advanced from his own. "The rest will have to wait." 

"Tomorrow, then?" I asked. 

"Agreed" Captain MacDougal said and the channel was cut. 

I sat down in the center seat. I was a little shaky. I hate adrenaline. Most of the bridge crew wasn't watching. Li'ira's reaction was plain. Her eyes were shiny and she was struggling to keep a straight face. I was angry for a moment. It was easy for a spy who was trained in this sort of work to point at my efforts and laugh. She wasn't the person on the screen. 

Then I relaxed a little. Miraculously it had seemed to work. 

The other USS Hood reported with a subspace beam focused in the direction of Earth. It wasn't very powerful and wasn't very focused. We easily listened in. The codes used in it were not in our records. It was a sequential encryption code. Each number used increased the complexity of the equation. It would take our computers about four days to crunch the message into submission. Again, I would have to wait. 

The next day, MacDougal and some of his officers shuttled over to the USS Harrier. Their shuttle was interesting. It as a museum piece but the design was good. It was as if they had a lot of practice with primitive techniques. 

The shuttle landed in the Harriers' shuttle bay. After a while it opened and the crew of the USS Hood came aboard the ship. They were an interesting bunch. They reminded me strongly of the old pictures of the Astronauts and Cosmonauts of Earth. They wore the baseball caps and festooned jump suits. I realized that they had followed the standard Starfleet color scheme. Their jump suits were maroon, gold and blue. Our uniforms were mostly black with the same colors marking the same distinctions. 

Another thing that added to my subconscious impression that these men were "primitives" was that they were all human. Starfleet had integrated crews from different races from the start but it wasn't too popular or widely spread until about one hundred years ago, by our time. 

Before then you'd see ships from Earth or Vulcan claiming to be from Starfleet, even though they were built and manned entirely by their home planet. 

I figured that this Hood was an "Earth" ship, being entirely built and manned by Earth for Starfleet. 

As we walked through the ship, certain alien members of the crew got strange looks from the crew of the Hood. Again I had a historical flashback. According to our sensors, the Hood was much slower than the Harrier. This would mean that the Federation that the Hood was from would be a lot smaller. I figured that they simply hadn't expanded far enough to meet Lemmnorians or the Drazi. 

We arrived in the conference room and I introduced my officers. At this point I made yet another inward grimace. I hadn't realized that Lt. Spaat and Harksain Varupuchu weren't human. I was taking them as individuals, not as aliens. 

It was extremely unlikely that another group of humanoids would meet a set of Vulcanoids and Andorian-oids, and set up a situation so close to the Federation. I had to admit inwardly that the gig was essentially up, at this point. 

My head swam and I had trouble concentrating. I could hear the board of review requesting my resignation. Would there even be a board of inquiry? Would there even be a Federation? I had screwed up, big time. However, I kept a straight face and played it through. 

Captain MacDougal's reaction caught me off guard. He stopped and stared at Spaat and Varupuchu. Although Li'ira got a second look due to her nice shape and pheromones, the crew of the Hood focused on the Vulcan and the Andorian. 

"Who are they?" MacDougal asked. I introduced them and named my command crew. 

"You have Vulcans serving on your ship?" MacDougal asked. He seemed incredulous. 

"Err, we don't know about Vulcans." I was still trying to maintain my cover. "Mr. Spaat and Mr. Varupuchu are valuable members of my crew, yes." 

"Okay..." MacDougal seemed taken aback. 

We started a briefing, which featured me trying like mad to be cagey about our "Twelve Colonies." This was because if we had met the Hood in our own time, there would some border line Prime Directive issues. I especially didn't want to mess up the time line of the UFP. Another very good reason is simply because I didn't have enough detail to tell Captain MacDougal. We didn't have enough time to invent a more credible background story. 

MacDougal also seemed to be playing his cards close to his vest. There was a lot of detail about his UFP he seemed to be trying to hide. I wasn't in any position to pry since I wasn't giving him much in return. 

After a long time of fencing, MacDougal lost patience. 

"You people seem to have a very advanced starship, here." MacDougal began "I have consulted with my superiors and we in the United Federation of Planets would be interested in signing a treaty with you. Especially a mutual defense or technological exchange treaty." 

Now it was my turn to be surprised. That was uncommonly direct. "That is certainly a bit premature." I said. 

"Please consider our offer." MacDougal looked stubborn. 

"I'm sorry." I said "In my culture we have the, er... First Instruction, which forbids interference with other cultures. If there were any way around it that would a job for the diplomats." 

MacDougal said "Look, I'll level with you. The war is going badly for us. Soon it won't matter. The Bugs will interfere with us like you've never seen." 

I saw the First Officer of the Hood look grim. A young lieutenant from the Earth ship looked shocked and then went pale. 

I wasn't going to be pushed "I must abide by the First Instruction. I have no choice." 

"We're about to be killed!" MacDougal was very angry. I thought that was understandable. "You stand on your First Instruction' while people, real people, are about to be exterminated by a bunch of damned bugs!" 

"I have no choice in the matter." It was a weak reply, but it was the only one I had. 

The atmosphere in the room had become decidedly tense. "Phagh!" The Captain of the Hood said and got up to leave. 

We escorted him back to the shuttle bay. There we found his shuttle empty and Flagg talking to an earnest young ensign from the Hood. 

"Ahem!" Captain MacDougal said, drawing the attention of the young man. The shuttle pilot ran into the shuttle abashedly. Flagg came quietly over to me. 

The shuttle craft from the Hood powered up and left the shuttle bay. 

I walked with Flagg back into the body of the Harrier. 

"What did you find out?" I asked Flagg. I didn't expect a complete answer, but I figured that something would be better than nothing. 

"I didn't have much time." Flagg said, thinking his encounter over. 

"He was a very young man. My approach involved stories of adventure." This was telling. The young man hadn't had enough experience to realize that "adventure" was synonymous with "death." 

Flagg continued "He was especially interested in the Seek out New Worlds and New Civilizations' part. He's never seen an alien." 

"Huh?" I was confused. "Just how wet behind the ears was he?" 

Flagg shrugged "I didn't get that far." 

Over the next two days I talked with Captain MacDougal. He wasn't giving an inch. He wanted help against the Bugs and my efforts to find a compromise met with failure. He didn't want the Harrier to help negotiate a treaty or a cease fire. He wanted phasers. 

I was in a bad position. I needed more information and I wasn't going to get it from the USS Hood. 

I waited for Green or Holly to come up with any new data on the Holly drive. Even with Snoopy's' help they simply weren't able to go very fast. The tampering with the experimental drive that had landed us in this situation was quite subtle, according to Charles Holly, the inventor of the drive. 

With no progress forthcoming from talking to the Hood, or from the Holly Hop, I had to make a decision. 

"Set course for Vulcan." I ordered. "Engage at Warp 6." 

"Aye, Aye, Captain." Spaat said. 

The USS Harrier swung around and leapt into warp speed. We had taken the Hood totally by surprise. They turned to pursue, but it was too late. 

"The Hood is hailing." Flagg reported. 

"Don't accept it." I said. 

We easily out ran the Hood. It was my hope that we could find more information, or at least a more reasonable reception at Vulcan. 

While we were leaving the Hood behind, its subspace radio was passing us, warning the Federation that we were coming. 

We got to the edge of Vulcan's solar system about eight hours ahead of pursuit. This was odd. Vulcan was one of the founding planets of the Federation. The one in our time had much better defenses. 

"Approaching Vulcan space, Captain." Spaat reported. 

"Slow to Warp 3 and continue at Warp until we are hailed or until we sight a Vulcan ship." I ordered. 

"Aye, sir. We are now in Vulcan Space. Eight minutes, 37 seconds to Vulcan." Spaat said. 

"Scan Vulcan, please." I said to Varupuchu. 

"Scanning." Varupuchu directed the scientific equipment of the Harrier towards Vulcan. He looked at his readouts, now returned to standard operating mode. He double checked the scan. 

"Seven Minutes to Vulcan." Spaat reported. 

Flagg added "Federation starships continue to pursue. They are about eight hours away at their current speed, warp 4.3. They appear to be trying to en globe the system and cut off our retreat." I didn't like the way he phrased that. It rubbed me the wrong way to be pursued by Starfleet. 

"Mr. Varupuchu?" I prompted. 

"I am not reading any life forms." Varupuchu sounded irate. 

My heart seemed to stop in my chest. "Confirm that! Run a diagnostic on the sensors." 

Varupuchu began the diagnostic "I have confirmed the readings, Captain. There are no life forms on Vulcan. The background radiation appears to be 3000 of Vulcans' normal level." 

"Oh, God." I think I said that out loud. Although my particular area of interest was Klingon culture and history, I knew of Vulcan. Who in Starfleet didn't? Spock had been the first, but he hadn't been the last. Through the Vulcan officers in Starfleet we all had a window on a planet where things were a little better. Maybe we didn't wish to cast out our passions on the sands, but we all knew it was possible. The Vulcans were once called the "intellectual puppets" of the Federation. We all knew differently. They were our consciences. 

Now two billion of them were dead. 

We continued into orbit. I was in shock really. It just didn't make sense. I was ready to blame the "Bugs" that this Federation was fighting. 

The details didn't fit that theory. The destruction of the surface was incredible. The area of ShiKahr and Vulcan's Forge were bombed into a glassy, radioactive slag about 5 meters deeper than the original surface. 

I remembered all the history. When I visited, I could almost hear Surak across five thousand years. It was all gone. The destruction was 100 years old. I couldn't believe it. Who would waste Vulcan that thoroughly and leave Earth or Andor untouched? 

Vulcan had once been a very violent planet. I had visited the catacombs under the palaces of the ancient nobles. They might have survived there. Except that when we scanned into the catacombs, we measured an incredible amount of thorium. The radioactive element was so thick in the ancient chambers that even in an armored vacc-suits, we would have received a lethal dose in twenty minutes. 

Then Flagg delivered another blow. "Look at these scans." He said. I looked. It was a spectroscopic analysis of the atmosphere of Vulcan. The damage was so extreme that we couldn't call this planet class M, anymore. However, Flagg had a more subtle point to make. The spectroscope revealed the chemicals and elements present in the atmosphere of Vulcan. Flagg compared the waste products of the bombardment with the records of various weapons in his tactical database. 

The analysis showed that the bombs used were fusion bombs. They were big ones. They matched stuff present on Earth during it's "Cold War" nuclear standoff. They did not match the profile of Vulcan weapons from their nuclear holocausts. Nor those of many other worlds. 

"I think the conclusion is clear." Flagg said, "Earth did this." 

"No." I couldn't believe it. Earth people are the most aggressive xenophiles in the Federation. I could not accept that this would happen under any circumstances. 

Flagg drilled the message home. He did several other tactical analyses. He showed me the long range scanner reports. The Federation Starfleet was mostly headed towards us from Earth. The rest were from the usual starbases. The starbases themselves were out of position. It was as if they were guarding a perimeter, not a collection of planets. 

I was almost violently angry, once the message had gotten through my skull. Those bastards. Those unbelievable maniacs! No wonder those bugs were set on killing them! It was a rational choice, given the circumstances! 

We stayed in orbit around Vulcan or a little while longer, trying to assure ourselves that no one was waiting to be rescued. So much as one life form, or one forlorn message to posterity would have soothed me, a little. There was nothing. The destruction was complete. 

With dread in my heart I ordered a course for Andor. I feared what we would find. I simply had to know for certain. 

The Harrier ran the Earth blockade easily. It did not have time to form up. 

As we sped for Andor the news of what we had seen at Vulcan cast a pall over the ship. The morale of the crew was shaky and everyone had a kind of stunned look. I would have worried, but I was still trying to get my mind around the whole planet having been murdered. 

Holly came into my office. I should be specific. He pounded frantically on the door until I let him in. 

"We've got it! We got it!" He whispered intently, looking about my quarters as if he expected a man in a black hat to be eavesdropping. 

"What do you have?" I was learning not to assume things about Holly. 

"We discovered how the Tampering was done. I can recreate it!" He was waving his hands and almost physically restraining himself from dancing. "I can steer the machine back home, I think." 

"Excellent!" The subject of home focused me "I'll get us moving towards the spot where we appeared." 

"Huh? Oh, that's not necessary, Captain." Holly said 

"It isn't?" If I had understood any of Holly's work, and that was stretching it a bit, then it was a type of dimensional transfer. Each area of space is unique in terms of dimensions. Each has its own dimensional quirks that seem to change randomly with time. This is why standard "Hyper drive" systems don't seem to work. Each "Hyper space" jump has an element of randomness to it. 

"Location isn't as big a factor as you might guess. If we misjumped at all, then the fault is in the field of the drive itself. Time and space aren't relevant except in a macroscopic sense." 

It took me a few seconds to work that out. "Time?" I said "So we HAVE time traveled." 

Holly didn't even hesitate. "Oh, yes. It is certainly a possibility... I think." 

I could feel my face grow hot. "You said time and space aren't relevant'. Are you saying that this device can travel in time as well as space!?" 

He looked at me intently. I had missed something and he needed to explain it more clearly. "For the purpose of this device, time and space are interchangeable. Travel in one is the same as travel in the other." He continued bemused "I'm not even certain they are different things at all..." 

All the warnings drilled into us in the Academy and Command School came flooding back to me. Time travel was dangerous. The slightest action could have chaotic and unpredictable consequences. I remembered in he records I had read, where Captain Kirk and all the others who had time traveled had held the entire existence of the Federation in their hands. Some didn't even know it at the time. 

Now, Holly had made it easier to travel in time than to fly to the nearest star. 

My head swam "Do you realize what you've done?!" I roared. Holly stopped and looked at me. He didn't get it. I regained control of myself, with effort. "Don't touch that thing until you hear from me!" 

Spaat called from the bridge "Captain Hailey to the Bridge." 

I ran out of my quarters and down the hallway, heading for the turbolift. As I ran, things started to occur to me. 

Suppose that these wrong hands' that Flagg was so afraid of got hold of Holly's' device? I could think of about five ways to get completely filthy rich right off the top of my head. If any single person got it then they could be a master criminal like the galaxy hasn't ever seen before. No police force could ever touch them. Worse, what if this hypothetical someone had an ax to grind? I could think of several terrorist groups who would love the ability to travel in time easily. 

The Klingons would love this device, too. They might declare it dishonorable. One the other hand, they might invent a new code of time travel honor and use it violently. 

What if the Romulans got it? The hairs on the back of my neck rose. As the turbo lift moved towards the bridge I began to think furiously. Control of the device would be extremely important and so far the USS Harrier had the only one. Where better to time travel to than the first test of the prototype? 

If they wanted to keep the Holly Hop in their hands once they had already gotten it, then taking it from the wreck of the Harrier seemed to me to be the easiest way. 

I didn't know exactly what a Romulan ship from twenty years in the future might look like, but I did know that the Harrier stood little or no chance against one, especially if they knew us well. 

As I entered the bridge, I was having several waking nightmares. Many of them featured technologically advanced Klingon, Romulan and Federation starships appearing near the Harrier with forceful opinions about the fate of Holly's' mad device. 

"Report!" I ordered. Spaat told me that we were approaching Andor. 

"Scan the planet, and Varupuchu?" 

"Captain?" 

"Keep a careful eye out for any subspace anomalies, or anything out of the ordinary, okay?" 

Varupuchu gave me a dubious look, but said "Aye, Sir." 

Flagg was looking at me with a neutral expression. I had a chill. This affected Flagg's paranoid area of responsibility. 

The Harrier warped into Andor's solar system, and towards the fifth planet. Our sensors detected about the same thing as on Vulcan. The planet Andor had been bombed right out of the habitable' category. There was debris. The Andorians were quite capable of violence in defense of their homes. Evidently they had put up a stiff resistance. 

This is where we discovered the smoking gun. There were destroyed ships and a ring of debris orbiting Andor. Among the wreckage were bodies. Dead Andorians and Humans littered the sky of Andor. 

We kept going. "Set course for Mereau 4." I ordered. "Maximum sustainable speed." 

This got a reaction from the bridge crew. Back to the starting point? Perhaps there had been a break in the problem. 

I had been thinking that being lost had been a blessing in disguise. It had given Green, Holly and Snoopy a chance to ferret out the true workings of the device. It had also given me a chance to evaluate the effect of it on the Federation. 

"Lt. Commander Flagg, please come with me." I started to the turbo lift. 

Flagg entered the lift behind me. I gave the turbolift the destination of engineering. As it started to move, I said "Hold." 

Flagg looked at me expectantly. "Do you know what Holly just said to me?" I asked. I told him the whole story. 

"Look," I said "Sending a ship from the future is a brute force approach. I don't even want to imagine what steps might have been taken by a subtle person. They would have had years to prepare!" 

Flagg took the whole story in with his usual poker face. I could his face flush slightly and a vein start to throb in his head. I didn't think this was unusual, given the circumstances. 

"Hey!" New wrinkles of this mess were occurring to me all the time. "That might explain the sabotage. If the Federation thought it wouldn't work, then they would stop working on it, leaving an enemy power to develop it!" 

"Huh?" Flagg was having a hard time following my reasoning. "That would be a paradox. How could they develop it, if they stole it from the Federation? If the Federation abandoned the experiment, how could they steal it in the first place?" 

"That's part of what I mean! A time travel device this easy to use throws causality right out the damned air lock!" I was excited now. I felt like I might be getting a handle on what was going on. "Anyone could be the saboteur, absolutely anyone! With time travel that easy, a mole could be implanted in the past, and build a trustworthy record the hard way. It might be someone we think we know! Hell, if it were an emergency, you could send someone into the past undercover as themselves. It would a nearly unbreakable cover." 

Flagg just looked at me. It was clear to me that I had lost him. 

"The effects of this device are too crazy. Once this thing becomes well known, then there will be no stopping it." My train of thought was leading to a conclusion that I didn't like. "Continue." I said to the turbolift. 

Flagg said "Why are we going to engineering?" 

I said "I didn't know at first, but it's becoming clear to me now. That device must be destroyed." 

"Wait, didn't you just say that this would just give the advantage to the enemy?" Flagg seemed confused. 

"If the device was destroyed by their efforts, maybe. I'm hopping that if we destroy it, and never reappear back home, then it will never have happened." I wasn't really clear on why I thought that this would work. I had to try something. 

"That means we'll be stuck here, in this place." Flagg pointed out, "Caught between psycho-Earth and the Bugs'." 

"Maybe. Perhaps it's one ship versus the whole Federation, and maybe reality as we know it." I didn't like those odds. I really didn't like the idea of Romulan ships from the future appearing from nowhere and blowing us up. 

The turbo lift arrived in Engineering. The door opened and I stepped out. I was in a hurry. I was racing a specter from the future, and I didn't know what would happen next. 

Flagg said "Just a minute." 

I turned to see Flagg holding a phaser on me. "Not so fast, Captain." He said. 

"What...?" Too many horrible possibilities crossed my mind for me to deal with. He could be the agent. He could be one of any twenty agents. 

"That was excellent." Flagg said. All signs of confusion were gone, replaced by a self confident smirk. "You had me fooled this entire time. Right up until the end. You didn't expect me to by the sudden dawning' routine, did you?" 

"I... er... wait." I said. I had no idea of what Flagg was talking about. 

"Who are you? The Romulans? The Obsidian Order? It doesn't matter, now, does it? I have you." Flagg was enjoying his moment of triumph. 

With a sicken creak, the turbolift car fell down the shaft. I stood there for a moment, in shock. I had heard of such catastrophic failures in turbolifts before. They were only simulations, used for training purposes. 

The turbolift crashed to the bottom of the shaft, four decks below. I went and looked at the edge of the door. There were shear marks in the metal. The metal itself looked fatigued. 

"No way!" I said to myself as I turned towards Engineering. The coincidence was too convenient. If it had been a story, I would have stopped reading that point. Only real life could be that inconsistent. A writer who pulled that trick would have been incompetent. 

I entered Engineering. It was filled with the usual shift. There were the young Ensigns and Crewmen running like mad and the old NCO's running the place. It looked busy. There was work going on all around the compartment. 

"Attention!" I bellowed. Engineering was still one of the few places where a bellow was still a useful command tool. Everyone in Engineering Section heard me, and stopped where they were. 

"Set your panels on remote and clear the section!" I bellowed. 

There was a split second of hesitation while most of the youngsters tried to figure out what I meant. The old-timers started to move. They knew there would be time to discuss my sanity after the section was cleared. 

Soon, the Engineering Section of the USS Harrier was cleared. There we a few panels left open, and tools left laying out. I went to a panel where the impulse control sub master station was open and found a plasma cutter. Set correctly, this tool would do, nicely. 

As I approached the master systems monitor, where the Holly Hop drive was attached, a voice interrupted me. 

"Hey!" Dr. Charles Holly yelled "What do you think you're doing?" 

"I am going to destroy the drive, Doctor." I said 

"You can't do that! What are you, Mad? That's our ride home!" Holly approached me and began to yell in my face. 

I tried to explain what I thought might happen if the drive were returned to the Federation. Holly would have none of it. "What utter hogwash!" He shouted. 

"What if I'm right, Doctor? What if the things I describe start to happen?" I asked. 

"Impossible! No one in their right mind would use my drive that way! It would be suicidal! The effects on the space time continuum would be devastating! It would far outweigh any political gain!" 

"But, what if they didn't care? What if they didn't understand the consequences? Haven't you thought of that?" 

"And I thought Flagg was paranoid! Give me that!" Holly lunged for the plasma cutter. 

Holly and I scuffled for a bit. I was hampered by the fact that I really didn't want to hurt the little guy. He had no idea how to go about fighting at all, but he didn't let that stop him, I have to give him that. 

"All right, break it up!" Flagg shouted. 

Holly and I separated quickly. I was shocked. Flagg should have been too injured to move, after falling four decks in a turbolift. But there he was. One of his ankles was badly swollen. He was holding one arm close against his torso. His face was red, and he was out of breath. "Caught you, didn't I?" Flagg said. He was using his good hand to hold his phaser on me, and was leaning into a bulkhead to keep from falling. 

"Good!" Holly yelled "The Captain has obviously gone mad!" 

"Shut up!" Flagg yelled at Holly. "You're the one who started all this, you loon." Holly's eye bugged out, but he stayed quiet. 

Flagg returned his attention to me. "You may think you've won, but we in the Federation have a few more cards up our sleeve than you might think." 

"Huh?" I said "But, I thought you were the saboteur." 

Flagg said "I was, but that was only to get the Harrier away from your pursuit. We're in a random alternate universe. It's still too hard for your side to track these jumps." 

"A random alternate universe?" I couldn't believe my ears. This made the whole thing much worse. 

"Not for long, you bastard." Flagg said "Soon I'll take the Harrier to our new hidden base. From there, with ultimate control over the Holly Hop, we'll safe guard all of time from your depredations." 

"Please don't call it that! I hate that name!" Holly looked pained. 

"What happened?" I was curious "What was different?" 

"Huh." Flagg said " In this universe, The warp drive was discovered in the in the year 2008, by a scientist named James C Jones." 

I recognized the name. He was the scientist who laid the theoretical foundation that later led Zefram Cochrane to discover warp drive. 

Flagg continued "In this universe, the government had access to certain materials from a downed Vulcan scout ship. It was used to give Jones a boost to his work. But the Earth wasn't culturally ready for contact. Remember that they were still discriminating against each other on the basis of skin color. It was like giving cannibals the warp drive. As soon as they met real aliens, humanity as a whole went psychotic. The Vulcan and the Andorians were too similar to humans in many ways, and too different in others. Despite a small percentage of xenophiles, most humans couldn't handle it." 

"I don't believe it! It was only sixty years later when our universe had first contact. There's no way we could have changed that much!" 

"But it was two generations of people who were inundated with Science Fiction! It was two generations of people who grew up watching TV shows like Battlestar Galactica and Babylon 5! The small minority of xenophiles had expanded to a majority by the 2060's." 

"You used my drive to come this place?" Holly said "You used my drive to travel time?" He seemed to be in shock. 

"I am also talking too much. It's time to take action." Flagg raised the phaser towards me and took a step forwards. 

I yelled "No, Flagg! Wait!" Flagg fired anyway. He missed me, because as he took his step forwards, he stepped in a puddle of lubricant which had leaked from an open panel. It should have been secured but I had rushed all the engineers out of the place too quickly. 

I couldn't feel my legs clearly, and I was shaky. Nearly being killed does that to me. I finally got the message and tried to move to try to take the phaser away from Flagg. 

Flagg was still too quick. He knew I would try to run, or take the phaser. He rolled into an upright position and covered me while laboriously climbing up on his damaged leg. 

Flagg was nearly erect when he stepped on a tool that had been left lying on the floor next to the panel. Again it was inexcusable sloth, but I hadn't given anyone time. 

Flagg stumbled across the engineering section and landed against another open panel. I cringed as he flailed about, grabbing an exposed power converter for balance. The Power converter sent a minute portion of the power than was running the USS Harrier through Flagg's body. 

Flagg screamed as several thousand volts of electricity arced through his body. His spasmodic muscle contractions threw him across the section, where he fetched up against a bulkhead with a solid, bone wrenching impact. 

I turned, with some effort away from the industrial accident and back to the drive. I turned on the plasma cutter and made my adjustments. 

"Wait!" Holly said "It's still not too late!" 

"What are you talking about?" I said irritably. 

Holly moved between the drive and me. "We know the dangers now! We can control them much better!" 

"No!" I said "It's far too dangerous!" 

"Please!" Holly was beginning to sound desperate "We can put together a committee of responsible scientists! It doesn't have to fall into the hands of military morons like Flagg, (No offense, Captain.)! Think of the opportunities for science! Please don't destroy my work!" 

"My decision is made!" I said as I started for the drive. 

"You can't! I won't let you - OOP!" This last Holly said as I belted him in the mouth. Hurting him was becoming harder to avoid. Holly sat down and held his mouth that was now bleeding.I approached the drive and was about to destroy it when Holly said "Mook Ouwf!" 

"What in the world does Mook Ouwf!' mean?" I thought. 

"MOOK OUWF!!!!" Holly shouted. 

I turned to find out what his problem was, and I was way, way too late. Flagg had me centered nicely in his phasers' sights and was pulling the trigger as I saw him. 

Flagg's phaser made an agonized warble and gave off pretty, but harmless blue sparkles, then beeped its annoying malfunction beep. Flagg groaned inarticulately. 

I looked at Holly, who was still holding his mouth. He moved his hands and said "Oh, yeah, life's fair." He bled all over his shirt. 

I looked at Flagg stunned. "That's the worst luck I ever saw." Flagg continued to groan. I don't even know if he was conscious. 

Holly looked at Flagg. "Yeah, he was unlucky, I was unlucky..." 

"No, but really." I said. "That was more bad luck than you might expect in a life time! He was really unlucky." 

"That's it!" Holly yelled, spraying blood across Engineering. The Macmillan improbability vector! Why didn't I see it before?" 

"What in the world are you talking about?" I yelled. 

"The drive! It causes trouble!" 

"It's taken you until now to figure that out!?" Without any further delay, I took the plasma cutter and melted the Holly Hop drive to an unrecognizable heap of slag. 

Suddenly I was back on the bridge. I looked around for a minute to reorient myself. Everything appeared to be in good shape, but we were now at red alert. 

"Report, all stations!" I said 

Li'ira looked behind me and then ran to the Tactical station. Flagg was not there. 

Spaat looked readings at his panel, and reported "We are presently in Earth's' solar system. We are near the edge of the system, at approximately the same position as when we started the test." 

"Scan for ships, please." I said 

"Scan complete." Varupuchu said. He had evidently started scanning as soon as we had moved. "Scans show Starfleet and civilian traffic. None of it is within a billion miles, Captain." 

"Is it our Starfleet or the other one?" I asked 

"It appears to be ours, Captain." 

Li'ira said "I'm getting reports from all departments now, Captain. No damage reported, no casualties." 

Then she said "Captain, we're being hailed by Starfleet Command. They inquire as to our status, and ask why we haven't started the experiment, yet." 

Eventually we got the whole thing worked out. When I destroyed the Holly Hop drive, we had reappeared in the same position we had held when the jump was started. From outside, it seemed as though no time had passed at all, although we did give off a blast of Taylorons. 

Flagg was not on the Harrier. There was a Lt. Colonel Flagg discovered as a part of Starfleet Intelligence, but he had never been anywhere near the Holly Hop project. 

Holly was nice enough to try to explain it to me. When I said that the Holly Hop threw causality right out the air lock, I was correct. On a fundamental level, the Universe is elastic. A certain amount of time travel and paradox and be adjusted to. Holly's drive had taken that elasticity and stretched it past the breaking point. 

Holly said that according to his analysis, the drive had pinched itself off into a causality loop of it's own. Once it was there, it set up an improbability field, which caused the worst possible things to happened to the drive, and the vehicle using it. 

Flagg's whole time war was just a reflection of the drive and the universe working together to destroy the paradox caused by the drive. 

"When Flagg decided to fight for the drive, he became a force in that micro-universe to preserve the drive. The micro-universe fought back. That's why Flagg was so unlucky!" Holly was excited. He even showed me the equation, where Flagg's decisions and mine were described in arcane mathematical terms. 

I didn't understand a bit of it. Frankly that made me rather happy. 

The biggest surprise, to me, came after we had put back into Spacedock and had gone through a post mission debriefing. I received orders to make the USS Harrier ready for a patrol. This wasn't a mission for an experimental vessel, it was a job for a ship of the line. 

When I asked why we were given these orders, I was told that due to a short fall of available ships, the Harrier was being activated to cover until the fleet was rebuilt following Wolf 359. Evidently Starfleet wanted to get their moneys' worth out of the refit they had given the Harrier. 

I was confirmed as Captain of the Harrier. This was also a surprise. It meant that, after a review of the Holly Hop incident, Starfleet Command trusted me to command in the field. 

I Insisted that Li'ira be transferred to the Harrier as my real First Officer. This caused an immediate problem. Fortunately, Admiral Quinn was able to help me there. 

"Why her, Jay?" Quinn asked "It's not because she's ah... Orion, is it?" Quinn asked. I knew what he meant. Was I letting my hormones run loose? Was she trying to sleep her way into the command track? 

"No." I said. I explained to Quinn how Li'ira had come to Starfleet, and how much she valued our occasional tolerance. I told him how much she was committed to upholding the ideals of the Federation. I felt that she was potentially a valuable officer out on the frontier where the ideals need to be put into action. I was afraid that if she was left in the Intelligence branch, that she would turn into another Colonel Flagg. I told the Admiral that we were cheating ourselves if we let her be wasted that way. 

"Okay, Captain, you have convinced me!" Quinn said, and Li'ira was transferred straight over to the Harrier as a Lieutenant Commander. 

After a start off like that, I figured a quiet patrol would be just the ticket... 

-End- The Harrier: An Alternate Universe of Star Trek By Jay P. Hailey 

These are a few notes of background material for my Star Trek stories, The Voyage of the Harrier. 

The Harrier began its life as a series of role-playing scenarios. Being a die hard fan of both Star Trek and role-playing I have long dreamed of finding a worthy campaign of Star Trek to play in. My friend Dennnis Washburn was an avid role player (He taught me all I know on the subject), but not as much of a Star Trek fan as I. 

Hearing my pathetic pleas for a good game of Star Trek, Dennnis went ahead and created the Harrier game. 

I won't bore you with the details of how we worked it out, but I will say that it was an interesting experience and that at the time I took extensive notes. 

Later I was trying to write stories. I like to write Star Trek, but very often it is difficult for me to come up with a plot that interested me. All the good ones seem to have been done, as well as a lot of bad ones. 

Seeing the characters and events of the old Harrier game, I realized that with a little alteration and rewriting of the events as role played, the Harrier might make for an interesting story. And so, With Dennnises input and permission I have begun to relate the noteworthy events of the 1992-1995 USS Harrier game. 

Dennnis came up with the plots, really. I have rewritten the games he GMed as stories adding the characterizations and insights into how everyone was feeling and thinking at the time. For this I am indebted to Dennnis. I try to write the story to be as entertaining as possible, but the basic idea that drives it in each case is Dennnises. 

We started with the "Holly Hop Incident." It was named for the episode of Red Dwarf late in its second season. It's the one where the crazed AI, Holly sent the Red Dwarf to an alternate universe where the sexes of the main characters (The PCs if you will) were reversed. 

The similarities were that both "Holly Hop Drives" were instant elsewhere drives that malfunctioned and sent the hapless starships to an alternate universe. 

Following another adventure, the notes on which were lost, Dennnis decided to lose the Harrier in unknown space. He sent the ship 30,000 light years away from the Federation, halfway across the Galaxy. He later said that the idea of a lone ship with no back up trying to deal with the unknown and what they did with their "Federation-ness" and how they survived seemed rife with story telling possibilities. 

Sound familiar? It's the premise for Star Trek: Voyager. My initial fear about the Harrier stories was that they might be viewed as a rip-off of Star Trek: Voyager. Dennnis invented the scenario some time before the series was announced and possibly before they thought of making it at all. My copy of the Star Trek Encyclopedia says that Deep Space Nine was developed and announced in 1992/1993, and that Star Trek: Voyager was probably in the planning stages in 1994. IMHO Dennnis did it a little better, but that will have to await other judgment. 

I immediately killed the game. I had the Star Trek Chronology, the Star Trek: The Next Generation Technical Manual and the Star Trek Encyclopedia as soon as they came out. I know what much of the Techno-Babble means. Dennnis, not being a hard core fan of Star Trek does not. Dennnis thought that 30,000 years was a medium distance. 

Now in Star Trek distance is a complex issue, usually ignored or altered for the convenience of the story. In an RPG things have to be a little more controlled. So I dug into my reference materials and came up with the cruising speed of the star ship Harrier, IMHO. It's warp six, or one light year per day. (392c, as per the table on page 372 of the Star Trek Encyclopedia). Out came the old calculator and I quickly realized that it would take the Harrier 82.191 years to cross 30,000 light years, assuming warp six. That's all day, every day. No stops, no encounters, no adventures. 

This assumption of hard and fast speeds and distances changes things somewhat for the Star Trek Universe as a whole. In our RPG it looks a little different from the ones on the screen. In Star Trek VI, Kirk specifies during the dinner scene, that the Enterprise is one thousand light years from high command, presumably Earth. Yet they made it there that afternoon, and Kirk didn't even have time to unpack. Star Trek is filled with this kind of thing. It makes maps and speed calculations nearly useless. But in our games the Federation has a set area, some of it is mapped in detail. This changes one of the crucial details of Star Trek and makes the setting for the Harrier Stories somewhat different. 

In case you're interested, the Voyagers' estimated flight time of seventy years is based on a speed of Warp 9.975, or six light years per day, all day, every day. They are already significantly behind schedule. 

The fact that the Harrier was a similar eighty years away caught Dennnis off-guard. It wasn't what he was after, and he didn't know how to resolve it. He quit at that point. 

Six months later I asked him about the game. (Was I getting twitchy? Mind your own business.) I found that he had wanted a three to five year trip back home. Once I knew this I was able to sit down, take off my shoes and arrive at a workable figure given my technical assumptions. 

A side note here, is that the assumptions in my references, specifically the books by Okuda are controversial. Not everyone accepts what he says as gospel. I have tried to keep the story moving on a people basis and not a technical one. Except for the one light year per day at warp six and the distances and travel times, I have often succeeded. But I wanted you to know where these silly ideas came from, anyway. 

Once we got the travel times and distances settled, the Harrier was off again. And that's when I discovered another interesting factor. Time. Once again I use the Okuda-books as my basis for dates and events within the Star Trek Universe. YMMV. I deliberately set the start of the Harrier, the Holly Hop Incident six months after the Borg Incident. (ST:TNG, Best of Both Worlds Parts 1&2) Why else would a mid level bureaucrat be promoted to command a ship? Answer: They were short on captains. 

After a couple of adventures I realized that we would soon be playing in the future of Star Trek by weeks, months and years. Soon, TPTB would do something in Star Trek that would invalidate some part of our story. 

This has in fact, happened. The war with the Klingons and all the paranoia about the Founders and the Gamma Quadrant are absent from my stories. We established our stories before the makers of Star Trek added these features to the one on television. 

I tried to stay neutral on what was happening and where it was happening as much as possible. I tried to leave myself wiggle room, but another factor intervened. 

Once again, Dennnises lack of obsessiveness about the show became apparent, and he introduced a factor that changed the entire universe of Star Trek. This frustrated me a little bit. I wanted to imagine the same thing only different, and he was making it more different. 

I don't want to give anything away, but you'll notice more divergence as time rolls on. 

By 1994 I had to give it up and admit to myself that the Harrier stories are happening in a different place than the Star Trek I was seeing on TV. This allowed for a certain amount of freedom, especially for Dennnises ideas. I won't try to rewrite the Harrier stories to conform to current Star Trek continuity, that will only change again before I'm done anyway. 

This allows the Harrier to come closer to being what it intrinsically is not - an original story. We played in the Star Trek universe, but bent it out of shape pretty badly in some areas. 

My only justification is that it was fun while we did it, I hope it will be fun while you read it, And what they hey? It's only an imaginary place, anyway. 

The name of this whole game is fun. I'm writing for fun. I hope you're reading for fun. If you're having fun, then the basic function of story is filled. We can hammer out the details later. 

-end- 

Jay P Hailey Meow!  
MSNIM - jayphailey ;  
AIM -jayphailey03;   
ICQ - 37959005  
HTTP://jayphailey. 


	4. Chapter 4

REP: Star Trek: Outwardly Mobile (OCC - TNG era) 03a Meanwhile in an Alternate Universe, PG 1/1

Title: Star Trek: Outwardly Mobile 03a Meanwhile in an Alternate Universe

Author: Jay P Hailey ST-OM, OCC - TNG era 03a/55?

Rating:PG

Archive: Fine with me, just tell me where.

Disclaimer: Paramount owns all things Star Trek. I claim Original Characters and Situations for me.

Webpage HTTP://jayphailey. Trek: Outwardly Mobile

Episode 03a Meanwhile in an Alternate Universe

(June 01, Year of Our Lord 2367)

By

Jay P. Hailey

And

Dennnis Washburn

I was taking practice with my saber when my man servant Bruce entered the chamber to give me the news. I only undertook such strenuous exercise out of habit. It had been many a long year since my honor had been worth impugning.

My prospects were limited and it appeared that I was destined to be a minor functionary at the court of his majesty Kirk the Fourth King of Elysia, and Lord protector of territories and colonies that I hadn't bothered to keep count of recently.

Still, Viscount was good title, and without the pressure that notoriety brings I could serve the realm quietly without undue stress.

It seemed that my comfort was not to last. Bruce came to me, bowed and said "Your honor, I bring word from the Palace."

Trying not to be too familiar, I let Bruce stand for a second in his submissive pose. Bruce was an excellent manservant and had made life much easier for me. I worried about not being stern enough with him, and losing his respect. Without that, I would lose his good service.

"What message is that?" I said off handedly. A summons to the Palace was a serious matter, but it wouldn't do to lose my composure in front of Bruce.

"The Lord High Chamberlain sends his summons, Your Honor." Bruce said neutrally. His trepidation was understandable. A panicky or excessively emotional Viscount has been the end of many a man servant.

I don't operate that way. "Very Well," I said, turning quickly to return to my chambers to dress appropriately. "Well done. Ready my carriage and have it around to the front in five minutes."

"Yes, Your Honor." Bruce said to my back. I was already rushing to make myself presentable to the Lord Chamberlain.

The Baron Quinn was one of the Emperors' inner circle of ministers and advisors. I owed my position at the court directly to him. It was widely understood that Quinn was some sort of sorcerer. I found him mysterious, odd and unorthodox in his thinking. In spite of that he had never been unfair or capricious with me. I knew that he served The Emperor faithfully, and was honored to lend my efforts to his.

To be summoned to the Palace meant that certainly some great events were afoot. Events that I would certainly be playing my small part in.

I arrived in good order, and while Bruce took my carriage and team into the stable at the palace. I went directly to Baron Quinn's office. It was in one of the southern towers on the outer ring of the grand Palace of Elysia.

I was introduced to the presence of the Lord Chamberlain by the herald and bowed low. Respect to ones' superiors was a survival trait, and those in power rarely ignored a breach. Baron Quinn had no time for such things.

"Jay, A pleasure." He said drawing me from my submissive pose "How do you fair, this day?"

I allowed myself to smile as I began my report. All matters of station aside, I had the feeling that Quinn genuinely liked me, and I returned the affection.

Quinn listened to my report with appropriate attention but little real interest. If my business was anything that required Quinn's personal attention, then I had not been doing my job. I had, so the details were not as useful to Quinn.

Quinn said "I have a job for you, Viscount. Would it be convenient for you to settle your affairs for a trip?" This was phrased as a question, but it wasn't. Quinn had an assignment for me. I was used to this. An inspection tour, or a minor diplomatic contact to one of the allied cities that made the empire so powerful.

"I could easily be ready to leave by the end of the week My Lord." I responded.

"Thank you, Jay. I will assign a trusted acquaintance of mine to oversee your businesses and house until your return."

I was overwhelmed. Quinn was going to take personal responsibility for my estate and property until I returned. That also meant that I would be gone for a significant amount of time.

"Thank you, My Lord. May I ask of the service which I am to undertake?" I asked.

Quinn simply smiled and handed me a scroll. "Read this first, and then I will brief you on the details."

I opened the scroll and read. I had been promoted to the level of Count, and placed in authority of his majesty's ship, the Harrier. The scroll had been signed personally by the hand of His Majesty James Tiberius Kirk the Fourth, Emperor of the Etc.

I felt weak. The Emperor himself had placed this mission upon me. It meant that he knew my name and that he trusted me, probably on Quinn's recommendation. I couldn't receive a greater honor, or a better favor for Quinn to grant me.

"My Lord..." I began, but I couldn't continue. I was choked with emotion.

Quinn then told me the details of my mission. It was not going to be easy, but it had the potential to bring great honor to me. On the other hand, it could get me killed. This was why a better known nobleman wasn't going in my stead. On Quinn's say so, the Emperor himself had gambled on my abilities.

I was to take the Harrier, a two deck sloop with fourteen guns to the small island nation of Bajor. They were suffering under the heel of the Cardassian Union. My mission was to slip onto the island and discover if any Bajorans were willing to ally with our nation. Then my new allies and I would start a well-timed campaign of terror and sabotage to soften the Cardassian forces on the island for our fleet.

The H.M.S. Harrier would carry a cargo of muskets and powder to supply a Bajoran resistance as well as treasure from the Emperors' own vaults to finance the corruption of Cardassian Officials or whatever bribes and mayhem I could create to advance Elysian interests in that quarter.

However, the Emperors' men had just completed a treaty with the Cardassians. Interference in their affairs would cause a war. The Emperor felt that the time was not yet ripe for a war with the Cardassians, so he needed someone who was not notably allied with the crown to be his agent. If I were captured, then the Emperor and the Lord Chamberlain could claim that I was a privateer, out to improve my fortunes in an unauthorized adventure.

It was certainly an all or nothing proposition. However, if I succeeded I could look forwards to new holdings on Bajor, as well as booty rights to all Cardassian treasure and materiel once the offensive to free Bajor started.

I had not been to sea since I had been part of Baron Picard's campaign against the Klingons. Quinn soothed me by telling me that I would receive a crew capable of handling the mission, as well as a few trusted officers of his choosing.

With all due haste I arranged my affairs, and went to inspect my new command. I arrived in my carriage, with Bruce and a few things packed along. I had learned during the Baron Picard's Campaign that it is a mistake to pack heavily on a sea voyage.

The Harrier herself was a disappointment. Her hull was a good shape, narrow to cut through the waves like a blade. However, she was old, and I could see many patches in the hull.

Her crew was an even worse surprise. I yelled to for permission to board. It was granted, but the officer who granted me permission was a tall Nubian woman. She was scantily clad and I could see the sinews playing in her arms. She was obviously part of the crew.

I came aboard, and saluted the Keel. "Who is the first mate of this ship?" I asked.

The woman stood brazenly facing me. "I am! Who's asking?"

As I looked around, the rest of he crew appeared to be no more orthodox or disciplined. Many were Nubians, themselves. All of them had the look of relaxed readiness that marked combat veterans. None were too impressed with me or my title, I could tell right away.

"I am the Count Hailey, your commander." I said. The woman looked me up and down measuringly. She said "Let's get one thing straight, Your Honor, I run this ship. These men are my crew. Their loyalty is to me."

"And you are?" I asked.

"I am Li'ira. That's all you need to know." She responded.

"I am not here to prove anything. I am here to serve my Emperor. We have a long voyage ahead of us, and if you can't agree to serve the Empire with me, then I'll have to ask you to leave my ship!" I put my hand down to my pistol and my saber, ready to fight for life at any moment.

Li'ira gauged me, and saw my resolve. She grinned. "You are worthy to serve Kirk, at least. I'm with you."

I was soon moved aboard the Harrier. I inspected the ship. Despite the attitude of the crew, the Harrier was in was in first class condition, and ready to put to sea.

I went back to the Palace and reported to the Lord Chamberlain.

--

"I'm sorry, there's nothing I can do." Quinn said "The Harrier needs a crew, and these people are the best for the task."

"Your pardon, My Lord, it is my impression that these people are brigands, pirates and cutthroats. I can not imagine that My Lord Chamberlain or His Majesty can be well served by these people."

"Your perception is correct. Who better for the task at hand?" Quinn said "I know Li'ira personally. She'll uphold her promise, or I wouldn't deal with her."

Reluctantly I had to accept Quinn's judgment in the matter.

I returned to my quarters on the Harrier, and had begun the few preparations that were left to be done before we put out to sea.

--

The next day, I was aroused by a commotion on deck. I left my quarters and went on deck to see what was the matter. On the dock were a nobleman and several men at arms. "I insist on coming aboard!" The nobleman was yelling at Li'ira.

The pirate woman remained calm and simply looked at the man. "No," was her response.

I noticed several members of her crew drifting casually below decks, or checking weapons for function. I was suddenly acutely aware that I had left my pistol and my saber in my quarters below.

I approached the gangplank and said "What is the meaning of this?"

Li'ira drifted towards me, never taking her eyes from the nobleman and his men.

"Are you the Count Hailey, in command of this vessel?" The nobleman yelled up at me.

"I am. What is your business here?" I countered.

Li'ira had reached me and whispered in my ear "He's not our friend. Don't let his nobleman's' airs fool you." I gave a short nod.

"I have been sent to join your crew!" The Nobleman said "I have the orders here. May I please come aboard?"

"Just a moment." I said "Send someone to my quarters to fetch my weapons. I'm going to meet him on the dock. Cover me." I whispered to Li'ira. She nodded her assent.

As soon as I had my weapons in hand, I went down the gangplank to the dock.

"Surely, such precautions are unnecessary. Your Honor!" The Nobleman said with a tone of injured sensibility.

"You pardon, Sir." I said "My crew is eager to depart, and I wouldn't want any accidents."

The nobleman looked behind me at Li'ira and said "I quite understand." Then he showed me a scroll. It was an order for the Viscount Flagg to report with his men to our dock and join the crew of the Harrier. The Baroness Necheyev, a serious rival of the Lord Chamberlain, signed it.

I did not have the right to refuse the order signed by a Baroness. If I went to Quinn, the mission would be put on hold while Necheyev and Quinn tried to negotiate the matter. If the controversy reached the ears of the Emperor, then he would probably cancel the whole operation and start from scratch with another noble in charge. His Majesty didn't approve of untidy operations and he didn't give second chances on the same operation.

Therefore, I said "How many men have you, Your Honor?"

Flagg smiled and said "Twenty marines, Your Honor."

I said "Please wait, and I'll have the arrangements made."

I returned aboard the Harrier and conveyed the news to Li'ira. She was livid. "Perhaps I should go to this Necheyev, and we can settle it with steel!" Eventually I was able to calm her down.

Putting up twenty marines on the Harrier was no easy matter, but it was eventually done. The Marines weren't going to have an especially comfortable voyage, as the crew expressed its' distaste for them in choosing their accommodations. However, when I pointed out, quietly that each marine was another gun to defend the ship from pirates or Klingons, then the crew saw the logic of the situation.

Logic was not the first thing that Li'ira responded with, when told she would have to surrender her quarters to Flagg. It was unavoidable. I had the best quarters, but I was the Captain. Flagg was a nobleman and I insisted he be treated as such, even at the cost of having my ears blistered by Li'ira's invective.

Later that day, the final additions to the crew were made, including the pilot and navigator, Spaat. He was a large swarthy man from the southern desert city of Vulcan. The sun baked men of Vulcan had science as their religion and practiced a philosophy of logic that made them extremely knowledgeable. Spaat was a practiced Navigator and Astronomer, and his skills enabled the Harrier to go farther than she ordinarily would have.

The other addition was Harksain Varupuchu, a narrow man with thin lips and a disapproving gaze. He was from the icy northern city of Andor. He was to be Bo'suns' Mate. His organizational skills were second to none, and he quickly identified several deficiencies in the loading of the Harrier and her provisions. He was able, with a hard days' work, reload the Harrier in such a way as to include two more tons of provisions, equipment and materiel. He was also able to get the new things much more cheaply than we had anticipated.

Soon all was ready, and the Harrier was pulled away from the dock. We sailed under minimal sails into the bay and made ready to leave.

The Bay at Elysia was the real reason for the founding of the city. It was long, running several miles from North to South, but had a narrow entrance to the ocean, to the West.

As we sailed into the West, I could see the entrance to the harbor, with the two tongues of land reaching from the south and the north. The harbor entrance was referred to as the "Golden Gate" and I could see the two fortresses defending the mouth of the harbor. They were similar as the first Emperor, Cochrane the First, had built them at the same time. They looked like book ends, or the footing to some impossibly huge bridge across the bay.

As the H.M.S. Harrier left the harbor, we set full sails and sped away to the West on our Mission. I could almost see our destiny ahead of us...

-end-

Disclaimer: Paramount owns all things Trek. I claim original characters and situations in this story for me.


	5. Chapter 5

REP: Star Trek: Outwardly Mobile (OCC - TNG era) 04 - The Voyage of the Harrier, PG 1/1

Title: Star Trek: Outwardly Mobile 04 - The Voyage of the Harrier

Author: Jay P Hailey ST-OM, OCC - TNG era XX/56?

Rating:PG

Archive: Fine with me, just tell me where.

Disclaimer: Paramount owns all things Star Trek. I claim Original Characters and Situations for me.

Webpage HTTP://jayphailey. Trek: Outwardly Mobile

Episode 04 - The Voyage of the Harrier

(Stardate 44947)

By

Jay P. Hailey

And

Dennnis Washburn

It had been six months since I had taken command of the starship Harrier. I was almost used to it by now.

I had taken command of the starship for a test of an experimental drive. When the test failed the Harrier and I were sent into the field. The Harrier was an old Constellation class starship, nearing obsolescence. She had the old Federation saucer-section primary hull, but thicker. She had four engine nacelles.

I was also an old, but proven design. I was average height with receding gray hair and comfortable padding around my middle despite strenuous workouts.

I had been surprised at first, that the Harrier had been sent out in the field. I expected a solid menu of milk runs. However, when we launched our mission in the middle of 2367, I had been told that the "Borg Incident" at Wolf 359 had made for a shortage of starships. This was proving to be the case. Although the Harrier's main function was to relieve more modern and important ships of dull tasks, we had our share of adventure. There had been the incident with the Ferengi and then the tensions along the Cardassian border, to name two examples.

The crew of the USS Harrier was shaping up pleasantly. Li'ira, my second in command, had taken to being a starship officer like a fish takes to water. Having a Green Orion woman as my First Officer had caused some comments here and there but what else was Starfleet for? IDIC in action, I would say and point out Li'ira's excellent record. It didn't help much but I didn't care. I had the officer I wanted. Recently her status had been confirmed by a promotion to Commander. Starfleet wouldn't have chosen her by themselves, but now that she was there they had to acknowledge her.

Our new Chief Medical Officer was also an interesting person. Dr. Patricia Flynn was an exchange officer from the United States Coast Guard. Having been born on the North American continent, I was embarrassed to learn that there were still military units in operation on Earth, as well as ones operated by my native country. Dr. Flynn coldly informed me that even in the twenty fourth century people still fell off boats and drowned if someone didn't rescue them. Besides, who better to explore the ocean? Starfleet certainly wasn't in that business.

I apologized to Dr. Flynn for my conclusion jumping. Later, I found out that Starfleet had traded two Science officers to the United States Coast Guard for oceanographic studies in exchange for Dr. Flynn's services aboard a starship. I also found out that Patricia Flynn wanted to be transferred to the oceanographic project as a science officer. Once I understood the cause for her resentment and sympathized with her, Flynn loosened up and became a decent Chief Medical Officer.

Another new addition to the crew was Lt. Stephanie Anderson. She was another native of North America. The same place where I had been born, the state of Southern California. Anderson was a tall Amazon of a woman with a forceful attitude. She had started her career in the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department, but transferred to Starfleet Security because in her words "Earth is DULL."

Our Science Officer was Tillean Darvon Ahk. She was a native of Vich-Arr, a race of humanoids who appeared 99 human, except for their delicately upswept ears and bifurcated eyebrows. Like all Vicharrians, she was always ready to jump into a project with both feet. She had no patience for proper procedures or doing things by the book. She was an excellent science officer, although I could never understand how she stayed so gonzo about science.

The last addition to the Command crew was Lt. Ruezre Vengle as Chief Engineer. Vengle was old for a Lieutenant. I learned that she had served for years with the Merchant Marine before joining Starfleet. I also learned that she was excellent starship mechanic. She wasn't going to invent any new wonders but the equipment that we had was going to stay in good shape and run under nearly any circumstances. Lt. Vengle was a golden eyed humanoid with the ability to generate and manipulate electrical current within her body. This gave her an intuitive feel for electrical circuits that she put to good use.

--

We were at Minos Korva when we were alerted to expect a passenger with new orders. I ordered the transporter to stand by while Li'ira and I went down there to meet our new guest. I was nervous. The Harrier was definitely not a cruise ship. A new passenger with orders was either a mission specialist or a flag officer with orders for us to pursue a mission that they were particularly involved in.

Down in the transporter room, Ensign Wally had already been given the coordinates where our passenger waited.

"Energize" I said.

The transporter hummed and made its familiar noise. On the pad a single humanoid form materialized. It was Colonel Flagg. He seemed as straight as ever, as tense as a coiled spring. Somehow, he looked different, too. I was tempted to say younger.

Flagg completed his materialization and looked around at the transporter room. His eyes fixed on me. He said "Permission to come aboard?"

I noticed that he had not saluted the keel. Actually, because there was no "keel" as such in a starship, typically you saluted towards engineering, and the warp core. It was a gesture of respect for the ship itself. It was a piece of superstition from a long way back. Starship crewmen are not typically superstitious. Starfleet selects people on the basis of being grounded in reality. They needed to be able to approach the unknown and describe it, without fanciful interpretation. I had always been a closet animist. I was nervous until I discovered that all good human engineers were.

Flagg having failed to salute the keel might have meant a lack of respect for the USS Harrier, or it might have simply meant that he didn't believe in that particular tradition. I wasn't in the mood to give Flagg the benefit of the doubt.

"Permission granted." I said.

Flagg stepped down from the transporter pad and came face to face with me. "I have sealed orders for you, Captain Hailey." He held out an isolinear chip to me. I noticed that he was wearing Lieutenant Colonel insignia, instead of full Colonel.

I said "Thank you" and turned to insert the chip into the terminal behind the transporter console.

"Ahem!" Flagg cleared his throat. "That's sensitive information, Captain. Need to know only."

"Oh, of course," I said. "Ensign Wally, please leave the room." Wally looked crestfallen but left. I turned again to the terminal.

"Ahem!" Flagg said again. I turned to see that he was giving Li'ira a meaningful look.

"Oh, for goodness sake!" I said "Li'ira is the second in command, Colonel! I think she should be aware of our orders in case I become incapacitated."

"I can arrange for her to view the orders, If that happens." Flagg was firm.

Li'ira said "I'll be outside," and left the transporter room.

When she was gone, I turned back to the console and inserted the chip. I had to enter my authorization code and identify myself to decrypt the orders.

For all that, the orders read:

/"You are ordered and required to transport Lieutenant Colonel John Flagg to Sector 001, Sol System, Spacedock Earth. These orders are classified level nine They are to be discussed on a need to know basis only."/

It was signed by Admiral Alynna Nechayev.

I looked at Flagg. I could feel my blood pressure rising. It was more cloak and dagger idiocy. The last time Flagg had nearly gotten us all killed that way. With effort I tried to remember that this was not the same Flagg we met six months ago.

"Do you have a problem with your orders, Captain?" Flagg asked. He knew that I had no grounds to ask for clarification, yet.

I sighed. There was no point in starting a big political stink at this point. I might burn up too many favors that I would need later.

"This way." I said and led Flagg from the transporter room. Li'ira and Wally were waiting for us just outside the door.

"Assign Lt. Colonel Flagg guest quarters." I said to Li'ira

"Hailey to Bridge." I called, knowing that the computer would route my words to the bridge. "Are we ready to leave orbit?"

"Yes, Sir." The cool precise tones of Harksain Varupuchu answered.

"Set course for Earth and engage." I said, grimly.

"Aye, Captain." The Andorian's tone told what he thought of the Captain randomly ordering the ship about.

--

A couple of days later, I saw Sergeant Major Kendricks. Kendricks commanded the twelve Starfleet Marines on board the USS Harrier. The Marines had been placed aboard the Harrier during the incident with the Cardassians and they hadn't been removed yet.

The Marines and the Security Department of the Harrier had an intense rivalry. Most of the time it was friendly. The Marines and the Security personnel were intended for two different jobs. Starfleet Security was all about being police, constables and enforcers for the ship. Not only did they have to fight well and shoot straight, they also had to act as body guards, investigators or any of a dozen other jobs.

The job of the Marines was to break things. That's all. If I wanted someone guarded, investigated or even some undercover work done, I would call my Security Department. If I wanted mass havoc wreaked in any given place, then I called the Marines.

The Marines were very good at their jobs. They trained incessantly to be better at shooting, fighting and breaking. They had also had any sense of self preservation removed. They would attack ANYTHING on their sergeant's orders. I saw a Holodeck exercise in which the Marines were sent UNARMED into ancient Tokyo and told to attack a mythological creature called Godzilla.

The scariest thing is that they jumped in to the Holodeck with enthusiasm and gave it their best shot. There was no hesitation.

Sgt. Major Kendricks was even scarier, since he was an old Marine. He was very professional and disciplined. He considered most Starfleet Officers too weak and undisciplined to accomplish much. He was willing to give the Captain respect because of my being "The Old Man." That was enough for me.

"Is it true that Lt. Colonel Flagg is aboard, sir?" Hendricks said. He was at attention. All the Marines practiced strict military discipline. Starfleet prided itself on not being a military organization. It was a point of pride to us that we didn't salute. The Marines generally agreed that we were not a military organization, and saluted away. I had learned to return salutes to the Marines I encountered on the Harrier. If I didn't they would simply hold them until I left.

It was not an accident to meet Sgt. Major Kendricks. On the Harrier there was Marine country and there was the rest of the ship. The Marines rarely ventured out of their own territory.

I returned Kendricks' salute. I hoped I had gotten it right, to the man who had taught it to me. "Yes, That's correct. I am not allowed to discuss it further."

Kendricks got a feral gleam in his eye. "With all due respect, Sir. It would be prudent to the Colonel's safety for him to avoid sections fourteen and fifteen on decks eleven and twelve."

That was Marine country. "Any particular reason?" I asked.

"Some of us have long memories, Captain." He said grimly.

I was shocked. This was a huge breach of discipline and etiquette. "Thank you. Dismissed." I said.

I had never known Kendricks to be anything but absolutely professional and correct in every detail. To see him take such an attitude toward Flagg was a dreadful surprise. It also confirmed my own bad attitudes towards Flagg. I had no urge to pursue the matter. I simply hoped that the problem would not come up on the Harrier.

Fortunately, Flagg never seemed to push his luck with the Marines. He stayed solidly in the officer's quarters and areas near there.

--

Flagg attempted one of our odd "Red-Shirt" programs in one unpleasant incident. Even our security department, which hated the name "Red Shirt", called the programs that.

When Stephanie Anderson had come aboard she had immediately reorganized the Security Department. The Security Officers were now deployed in groups of four. Each group trained together and stood duty watches together. They started to develop group identities and tactics that set them apart as individual teams.

It made the Harrier's Security Department seem more ragged than average. They were not. They were racking up better reaction times in drills. Some of the drills were useless to run. The new groupings made such incidents hard to run and easily defeated.

Another thing that had made a big difference were Ensign Bruce's weird holodeck training exercises. A given group never knew what to expect on the Holodeck. They only knew that they were expected to cope with it. There were locked door mysteries that would have challenged Sherlock Holmes. There were hideous dungeon crawls. There were fast paced action adventures. There was even a big Broadway dance number that the Security Team had to try to fake their way through.

Because of all this, some teams had taken to carrying odd equipment and devices while on duty. I overlooked a certain amount of this. Knives, tools and odd weapons would make it harder to second guess what the Security Department of the Harrier was capable of. Occasionally I had to call them on stuff that was too outrageous. Over all I was happy with them. Lieutenant Anderson would occasionally admit to being satisfied with them for today.

Flagg thought the idea was interesting and asked to be allowed to try out the program. I authorized this and asked Ensign Bruce to develop a scenario suitable for Flagg.

Ensign Bruce must have been rushed, because several software glitches resulted in Flagg being locked in an alpine survival scenario for a couple of days.

When we finally got the Holodeck opened and shut down, we found Flagg. He was ragged and suffering from exposure. When he left the Holodeck, he walked out on his own two feet. He thanked Ensign Bruce. I think the maniac had enjoyed himself.

--

About a week later I was in my office, studying the endless supply of reports and useful bits of information that Starfleet kept heaping on my desk. I was relieved when the bridge called.

"Captain, We have an incoming message. It is priority one." Spaat said. He was usually the Helmsman, but today he seemed to be the senior officer on the bridge.

"I'll be right there." I said. I gratefully left the heap of reports and articles behind me.

When I got to the bridge, I noticed that the senior officers seem to have picked that time to congregate on the bridge. Normally, when a starship was moving towards a set destination and nothing seemed to be happening, you would not find all the senior officers on the bridge. The senior officers would take turns standing watch, ready to call the rest of us if something happened.

The only exception to this procedure was the Captain. I could come and go from the bridge as pleased me, and stay for as long as I found necessary. There would always be an "Officer of the Bridge" present. It was his watch and another officer would relieve him when his watch ended. The reason for my absence on the watch rotation was quite basic. I was always on call, without fail. Nothing I ever did was sacred. For that reason, standing a watch myself would be considered redundant and abusive of the time that circumstances had allowed me.

This time as I arrived on the bridge, nearly all the senior officers were there. They were almost loitering. The efficiency of the ship's grapevine surprised me, yet again. As Captain I was frequently the last to hear the gossip of the ship. I didn't like it, but it was part of the mystique. Gossiping to the Captain was imprudent. Almost no one did it.

I said "What's the status of the message?"

Stephanie Anderson took over her station from the crewman who was there on her off duty shifts. She reported. "Message received and intact. It's awaiting your order to decode."

"Very well," I said "Put it on the main view screen."

The screen opened up with the carefully designed logo of the United Federation of Planets, and then switched to a view of an Admiral I had not met.

He was a humanoid. His nose seemed to have a Bajoran like ridge, although the shape was different. He was a grizzled veteran. His gray hair was cut short and he had some scars visible. Despite this he seemed to be a forceful man. He got right to business.

"Is this thing on? All right." He held up a PADD and read the official orders.

"This is Admiral Bach of Starbase Ninety Four, to Captain Hailey on the USS Harrier. The stardate is 44947.3. Prepare for new orders. The new orders are these. You will move to the location of Deep Space Five and investigate the loss of contact with that station. Render all necessary and prudent aid, as specified in standard operational procedures. Investigate the cause of the loss of contact. Remedy if possible. Report all findings to Starfleet Command."

He put down the PADD and looked into the camera. "We are aware of your current mission, as of Stardate 44940.4. This mission is suspended until the orders I have just given you are satisfied. Your authorization code is delta gamma 99428. A data file of relevant information follows this message. Good luck, Harrier. Starbase Ninety Four out."

I looked at Stephanie. "Did we get the file?"

"Yes, Captain." She answered.

"Okay, everyone. Let's get to work." I said. "Helm, set course for Deep Space Five and engage."

Li'ira and I split the information packets up and assigned different officers to familiarize themselves with the details. We would put it all back together during the Senior Officers' briefing.

--

In the briefing the picture became somewhat more clear.

Deep Space Five was a science outpost run jointly by the Federation and two other races.

One of the other races was the Ugohaid. They resembled four and a half foot tall raccoons. They even had the gray fur and the black mask markings across the eyes. They were very organized and militaristic in nature. They had an alliance with the Federation that included extremely strict rules of contact and interaction with the Ugohaid and the Liook Sujan. The Ugohaid were not above using violence to enforce this treaty.

Although the Ugohaid had been invited to consider joining the Federation, they had declined. They seemed to feel that the effort of joining the Federation would distract them from their primary goals.

One of the primary goals of the Ugohaid was to serve the Liook Sujan with all due respect and reverence and to ensure that every one else did, too.

The Liook Sujan were an odd race in the galaxy. They were silicon based life forms. They were utterly incapable of movement by their own power. Essentially the Liook Sujan were large sentient boulders. They thought very slowly, very deeply and very profoundly.

The Liook Sujan had vast psionic powers. They were telepathic. This was their principal form of communication and was said by the humanoids of the Federation who contacted them to be very disorienting. The Liook Sujan had even more mysterious senses, involving time and space. Discussions on these subjects with the Liook Sujan were very odd and philosophical. Evidently they had a hard time communicating the impressions these senses gave them. It was like describing color to a blind man.

The Liook Sujan, being silicon life forms, were distantly related to computers. With this in mind a Federation engineer had tinkered together an interface for the Liook Sujan to work through a Federation computer.

The Liook Sujan thought that this was fun and clever. The Ugohaid thought that it was disrespectful and sharply limited this activity.

Deep Space Five was established to study a dark matter nebula near the edge of the Ugohaid territory. The nebula broke several rules for nebulae and was endlessly fascinating to astrophysicists.

The Liook Sujan had suggested the joint station to study the nebula. They said even their strange senses were clouded by the nebula and that they were curious.

The Ugohaid viewed the suggestion of the Liook Sujan as a distasteful duty. Again the Ugohaid had established strict rules of behavior and stood ready to enforce them.

Several Liook Sujan were gently moved with earth moving equipment and transported to the space station.

The station itself was a standard Federation design, modified for Liook Sujan and Ugohaid use. Once the station had been emplaced, it became the central contact point for the Ugohaid and the Liook Sujan.

According to the information given to us by the Admiral, the station had stopped responding to calls and had disappeared from sensors.

The Ugohaid were in an uproar. The Liook Sujan were unable or unwilling to comment.

Our course from Minos Korva to Earth had made the Harrier the nearest Federation starship.

Our Science Officer, Tillean Darvon Ahk said during the briefing that the dark matter nebula baffled her. It was mostly composed of monatomic debris. It was mostly hydrogen, but then everything was. There were other minerals, too. All in single atoms. All cold. Tillean informed us that there was no conceivable reason for all those atoms to be drifting around free like that, as cold as they were. The temperature of the cloud was near zero Kelvin, except near the center, where a perfectly normal type M red dwarf star burned away.

Along with the strange material that made up the nebula, there were odd gravometric anomalies inside the cloud, where cold hydrogen, silicon, iron and oxygen hid them from view.

It was all very odd and mysterious. Now something had apparently happened to the space station.

--

We arrived near the location of Deep Space Five about 30 hours later. Our long range sensors reported Ugohaid destroyers in the area. The Ugohaid ships did not approach us or answer our hails. I guess they were waiting to see what we would do.

"Yellow Alert." I ordered as we closed in on the last known location of space station. Around me the crew of the Harrier took up their alert stations. They had gotten fairly good at it lately. That made me a little more comfortable.

"Sensors, report." I said. Varupuchu would scan for the station, while Tillean scanned the nebula itself for clues.

"No sign of the station." Lt. Commander Varupuchu reported.

Tillean said "Captain, I am reading odd gravometric disturbances. Their range is approximately one hundred thousand kilometers from us. They are located towards the nebula."

That was a surprise "That's well outside the nebula, isn't it?"

"Yes, sir. That's better than halfway between the nebula and the last reported position of the station."

"Begin a phase one search, please." I asked Li'ira. Then I stepped up to the science station to work more closely with Tillean. Behind me, I heard Li'ira give the specific orders necessary to carry out my wishes. The bridge became quite active.

"Can you identify the anomalies?" I asked the Science Officer.

"No, sir. I can't even locate them precisely. I can only detect them by measuring their effects on the surrounding gas and radiation." Tillean was leaning into her console manipulating the controls faster than I could keep track of. Screens flipped by, and the computer made the programmed noises to indicate it was processing data.

Then the Vicharrian woman stopped scanning suddenly and focused on a particular screen. I could see the wispy shapes of a mass of free floating gas depicted on the screen, as well as labels giving the content and condition of each detected mass.

"Captain, please stop the ship." Tillean said.

I didn't waste time "All Stop!"

"All Stop!" Li'ira repeated as Spaat our big Vulcan helmsman quickly brought the ship to a halt.

Stephanie Anderson, on the tactical station, quickly began to arrange things for a red alert. She was anticipating my orders, but I didn't mind. It would increase our reaction time.

Everyone else was looking at me. I turned back to Tillean.

"Report, please." I said.

Tillean put the schematic up on the main view screen. It showed the USS Harrier about to move into a cloud of cold molecular gas, characteristic of the nebula. The composition of the cloud was wrong. Badly wrong.

The cloud the Harrier was about to penetrate was composed of single molecules of aluminum, tritanium and duranium. These were the metals typically used to construct starships. There was also a significant amount of nitrogen and oxygen. In the cloud there were also atoms of carbon and silicon. All the raw material you might need to build a space station and crew.

In the very center of the cold were atoms of cold and still deuterium and antimatter. They had not reacted with each other very much. They were so cold they simply hadn't moved into contact with each other in large quantities.

Tillean said "I noticed the cloud, but what really caught my attention was a slight pulse of gamma radiation from the antimatter in the cloud."

I looked at her screen. The gamma radiation was very slight. Just a few percentage points above background level. I was thankful for Tillean's sharp eyes.

"Good work, Lieutenant." I said. "Helm, back us away from the cloud dead slow."

"Aye, sir." Spaat replied. The Harrier began to back slowly away from the cloud.

"Mister Varupuchu, please analyze the cloud. I want to know if that's our missing space station."

As Varupuchu went to work I sat back down in the center seat. This did not look good. Anything I could think of that could disintegrate a space station so thoroughly would have converted some of the mass to radiation. There would have been a blast of heat, light and radiation. There would be some clues.

It was entirely possible that this was not Deep Space Five. I thought it was unlikely that an entire space station could be so thoroughly destroyed, and then all the energy leached out of the debris.

Tillean spoke from her station. "Captain, may I launch a probe? It would help with the analysis of the gravometric anomalies."

"Go ahead." I said. I was curious about them myself.

As we moved, I watched Varupuchu scan and Tillean ready her probes. I felt like doing something, anything. Varupuchu was a better Ops Officer than I was. Tillean was much better as a Science Officer than me. The smart thing at this point was to let them do their jobs.

I looked at every other station on the bridge. The bridge of the USS Harrier was a big circular room covered with panels, consoles and work stations. It seemed at first like it would be overwhelming. Too much information, too many things happening at once. This was true if you looked at the bridge all at once.

As I looked around me, I concentrated on each station. Once I had become familiar with the layout of the Harrier's bridge, I could tell nearly everything about the ship and her condition by looking at each station in turn.

Nothing was happening, except for the sensors and scanners.

"Ready for launch, Captain." Tillean informed me.

"Launch your probes." I said.

There was a whoosh and a thump as a group of three probes were launched.

We all watched as the probes spread out in a triangle headed towards the nebula.

As the probes got closer to the gravometric anomalies, we could see the effects of them more clearly. However, as close as the probes got, they could still see no direct evidence of the anomalies.

Then the signal from one of the probes winked out. It was just gone. Tillean altered the focus of the other two probes to search for the missing one. There was no hint. It had utterly disappeared.

Tillean continued her mission with the other two probes. It was scary losing the probe like that but what else could we do? We had to know more about what was going on.

Varupuchu approached me and spoke quietly "Captain, I have a report."

I motioned Li'ira over and said "Go ahead."

The Operations Officer said "The cloud closely matches Deep Space Five in mass and molecular composition. Its' position and drift are consistent with the last known position of the station. In short, there is nothing to contradict your theory."

I was disappointed. Whenever I heard of ships or people lost in space, I held on to the hope that a rescue mission would find them. Everyone I spoke to in Starfleet felt the same way. The next time it might be us.

"Thank you, Mr. Varupuchu. Please keep scanning. Look for escape pods or a log buoy."

"Aye, Captain."

Varupuchu scanned for another half hour. He didn't find anything. We began a wider search pattern. I didn't expect much, but I didn't want to give up hope, yet.

Anderson reported from her Tactical Station. "Captain, I am reading a Ugohaid destroyer. She's shadowing us."

I said "Keep a sharp eye on her, please. Alert me if they start to close with us." I didn't like the idea of conducting the rest of this mission with an audience.

"Captain, the probe is back." Tillean said grimly.

"On screen, Lieutenant." I said.

On the main screen I could see the schematics of another cold molecular cloud. It was composed of duranium, silicon and rest of the material used to build probes. There was no molecule that was attached to any other. It had simply appeared as though from nowhere. The probe/cloud dispersed. It was generally heading in the same direction at the same speed as the probe had been when it had disappeared. It had appeared in the same spot as far as I could tell.

I heard Stephanie say "I have a bad feeling about this." The truth was I did, too. Captains aren't allowed to say it though.

"Helm, bring us about and set course away from the nebula. Engage at full impulse." I said. I really wanted to warp out of there quickly. Once we were routed where would we stop running?

The Harrier abandoned the search pattern and began to fly away. As we went I said to Varupuchu "Did you find anything?"

"No, Captain." He said. He would have reported any sensor contacts at once. I knew it, but I still wanted to hear differently.

"Keep scanning, just in case." I said. I caught Varupuchu's face. It was plain that he thought it was hopeless. His scan was very thorough however. After all, it might be us the next time.

"The Ugohaid destroyer is still shadowing us, Captain. They have engaged full impulse." Stephanie reported.

I sat back into the Captain's seat. It wasn't very comfortable. "Anything yet, Lieutenant?"

Tillean was watching her board intently. She was calculating things about the cloud, I could see. The equations went by too quickly for me to see in detail.

"No, Captain." She said "I still can't get a lock on the anomalies. I can see what happened to our probe, but I couldn't even say for certain that the anomalies are the cause."

"Keep trying" I said. I turned back to the screen. I was disturbed that our sensors didn't seem to be giving us any good information.

As I watched the main view screen went black.

"Report." I yelled. The Bridge burst into activity.

"Sensors out, Captain." Tillean reported.

"Mr. Varupuchu, run a class three diagnostic on the sensors, please." I said "Tactical, can you get a scan of the Ugohaid ship?"

"Negative, Captain." Anderson said "Tactical sensors are down as well."

"Red Alert!" Li'ira said

"Mr. Spaat, are we in danger of striking anything?" I asked

"I do not believe so, Captain. I recommend a severe reduction in speed in any case."

"Go right ahead."

"Lieutenant Anderson, please open hailing frequencies."

"Aye, Sir." I heard the tones of the communications system being activated. "Channel open, Sir."

"This is Captain Hailey of the Federation Starship Harrier, to the Ugohaid destroyer. Please respond."

As I finished I heard interference on the channel. Garbled noise came back at me. I recognized the garbled sound of my own voice.

I looked at Stephanie. She was tuning the communications system to try to counteract the distortion. The Security Lieutenant looked confused.

"Captain," She said "The signal is being reflected back at us. It's having multiple reflections and each one is more distorted than the last."

Tillean said "It is? Captain, may I try something with the sensors?"

I looked at Varupuchu. He looked at Tillean with dreadful calm. I knew he thought Tillean should have gone through him. Catching my eye he said "The sensor diagnostics report heavy external interference, Captain, but no internal malfunctions. The sensors are available."

"What do you have in mind, Lieutenant?" I asked.

"If I encrypt the sensor signal and then route it through the communications buffer we might be able to filter out some of the interference."

"That sounds good, Lieutenant. Proceed."

Tillean worked with Anderson for a minute getting the stations connected correctly. Then she said "Scanning now."

As scanners began to operate. Tillean and Stephanie had to tweak the connection but eventually they were able to put a picture up on the main screen.

I looked and saw the back end of the USS Harrier. She looked like she was four kilometers off our bow. Beyond her there was a constellation of starships. Each looked like the Harrier. The further each was from us, the more distorted it looked. At a distance I could see multiple specks of light, which seemed to be heavily distorted images of the USS Harrier.

In every direction we looked we could see a similar thing. Looking to the side, we could see a side view of our ship, distorted in more distant images.

To the rear we could see the nose of our starship, reflected many times.

"What in the world?" I said. It was a confusing image.

"I thought so! Captain, we have been englobed by something." Tillean said with a hint of smugness.

"By what?" Li'ira said

Tillean dropped her smug tone. "I don't know. I can tell you that it reflects our scans and communications signals back at us, distorting them."

"Was it the Ugohaid?" I asked.

"We have no knowledge of the Ugohaid working on this type of weapon, Captain." Li'ira said "We do know what they are working towards and this isn't even close."

"Besides the Ugohaid destroyer was well outside weapons range, sir." Anderson put in.

"Captain, I think I can learn more about this with more analysis of the sensor signals. The way that the signals are deformed can tell me a lot." Tillean said. "The problem is, I'll have to launch another probe."

"You sure are tough on those things." I grinned "Permission granted."

Tillean readied another probe and launched it with a whoosh and a thump. Simultaneously, the Harrier in front of us launched a probe. It shot across the intervening four kilometers in a flash. We heard a slight thud as the probe from the Harrier ahead of us struck our hull, and disintegrated into scraps of metal.

We watched on the screen as our probe left our launch bay and mashed itself against the Harrier behind us. We could see through the probe's sensors that the Harrier behind us had launched a probe towards one of the distorted images behind it.

The screen dissolved into snow at the same moment as the thump from the probe striking us happened.

On replays we could see distorted Harriers throw distorted probes at each other for as far as our sensors could reach.

The time of the probe impact was nearly the same for all the images. The further away the images, the more delayed the image of the probe hitting them was.

As the images appeared to be further away from us, they got more distorted. Beyond a certain distance we couldn't make them out clearly at all.

Into the stunned silence that followed this, we could hear an outraged beep from Stephanie's board. "Minor damage to the hull near section two of deck six. Hull integrity down to 98 in that area."

I realized that we had sustained a dent from the probe.

Tillean was scanning with enthusiasm. Varupuchu looked at her grimly, then shook his head at me slowly. He turned back to his station.

Tillean said "That's odd." And focused her scanners.

"What's odd, Lieutenant?" Li'ira said.

Tillean again put her findings up on the main view screen. They showed a tracing of the paths of the debris from the destroyed probe.

The paths made a pretty curved flower pattern away from the Harrier. Sir Isaac Newton was screaming in my ear. "Why are the paths of the debris curved?" I asked.

As we watched, a piece of debris curved around our lower port nacelle and approached a piece from the probe that had hit that image. It approached its mirror image and the two objects met. Then they disappeared.

It was as if they had slipped through a curtain. They disappeared from the forward end to the rear. The cloud of probe debris curved out behind us and slowly disappeared, one piece at a time.

Why behind us? I looked at Mr. Spaat's station. We were moving ahead at one quarter impulse.

"What's the range to the ship ahead of us?" I asked

"Four thousand two hundred and eighty three meters, Captain" Spaat reported.

"Have we closed with the image in front of us?"

Spaat consulted his sensors "No, Captain."

"Range to the image behind us?"

"Four thousand two hundred and eighty three meters, Sir." Spaat said.

I thought about it. "Mr. Spaat, prepare to take our speed up to one half impulse. Be ready to avoid a collision with the image ahead of us."

"Aye, Sir." He programmed the moves into his helm console. With only four kilometers of separation no humanoid reflexes would be quick enough to avoid a collision, but the computer could act quickly enough. I hoped.

"Engage." I said, when Spaat was done. He ran his program and the impulse engines of the Harrier fired.

Our apparent speed, as measured by our internal sensors, began to increase. Outside nothing seemed to change.

"Range to fore and aft images?" I said.

Spaat replied. "Unchanged, Captain."

"Keep an eye on it, please." I replied.

After about half an hour not much had changed, except that the images seemed to close in approximately 100 meters. I believed that this meant whatever had surrounded us was closing in. Tillean estimated that it was approximately 2 kilometers wide in a globe around the Harrier.

I left the bridge in Li'ira's capable hands and went to lounge. I was hungry. It had been a couple of hours since lunch time and I had not eaten, and I needed to be at my peak to deal with whatever this was.

The Lounge on the USS Harrier was huge. It was two decks tall and had a balcony running around the edge on the second level. About ninety years ago it had been intended to combat claustrophobia among the crew. It had huge windows along the outer hull.

As I ate a sandwich and sipped some pikku juice, I could see off duty members of the crew gathering at the window. I walked over to see what the attraction was. Out of the window we could the twinkling reflections. The nearby reflections were visible and pretty. The more distant fuzzy images seemed like stars. If you didn't know any better, it would look like a formation of Constellation class starships against a backdrop of regularly spaced stars. Taken alone it was somewhat beautiful.

"Captain Hailey to the Bridge." Li'ira's voice rang out through the intercom. "Captain Hailey, please report to the Bridge." I wolfed my sandwich down as I walked briskly towards the turbolift.

When I arrived on the Bridge, I had wiped most of the crumbs off my uniform. Li'ira was waiting for me. I noticed as I approached that she looked really, really nice. I was able to concentrate enough to realize that stress had increased her body's production of lust inducing pheromones.

"Report." I said.

"Lieutenant Darvon Ahk has discovered what the phenomenon that surrounds us is." Li'ira plainly did not like what Tillean had to report.

I turned to the Science Officer. "Well?"

Tillean's enthusiasm had an edge to it now. She was still gonzo but now she was unhappy. "There is no object around us. It is the edge of the universe that is reflecting our signals."

I didn't get it, at first. "Could you explain that a little more?" I asked.

"We are in a universe that measures approximately two kilometers across." Tillean said.

"We're in an alternate universe?" I asked dumbly. Some part of my mind didn't want to hear this.

"Not as such." Tillean explained "This seems to be some sort of temporary micro-universe. It's a direct expression of van der Hock's theories of special case quantum cosmology."

"Who? What?" I asked. The explanation was confusing me even more. "Give me the bottom line." I said.

"This universe is shrinking." Tillean said. "It seems to have some relationship to the power level of the Harrier. As our power runs out, this micro-universe will shrink."

"And when our power is gone?" I asked.

"Then this micro-universe will collapse and cease to exist."

"Us with it, I suppose?"

"Exactly."

I went over to her station and read her analysis. Some of the math I understood. Some of it was disturbingly similar to the math used by Charles Holly, a mad scientist of my acquaintance.

"How long?" I asked.

"Twenty to thirty hours. As I see more of the collapse, I will be able to give a better estimate." Tillean said.

There was silence on the bridge. It looked grim indeed. I went to the Captain's chair and sat down, thinking furiously. Even if it was hopeless, I had to give the crew some hope. They wouldn't hold together otherwise.

Oddly, the question of maintaining discipline and morale became my chief focus as death breathed down my neck. I knew that if the conviction that we were doomed took hold of the crew, then it would become a self-fulfilling prophecy. If we were to have any hope I had to look like I had an idea.

I looked around at the Bridge. "I am open to suggestions at this point."

Tillean shook her head grimly. Plainly she felt as if she didn't know enough about the phenomenon, yet.

The result was similar all the way around the Bridge. Anderson wanted know if we might crack open a way with weapons fire. If this was a self contained micro-universe then the force of weapons fire had no place else to go but the confines of the micro-universe. We'd end up shooting ourselves, a lot.

I said "Download all scans, analyses, and applicable reference material to my office. If I come up with a plan I'll let you know. Li'ira, you have the bridge."

--

I went down to my cubby hole of an office. The original design of the Harrier didn't include much space for an office or ready room for the Captain. I guess ninety years ago they didn't ask them to do as much paper work.

I sat down and called up the information on my desk. I just stared at it. Then a reference caught my eye. Some Ensign named Crusher had done an experiment with a static warp bubble. His equations I could figure out, eventually.

If we created an inverse warp bubble, the chances were we'd destroy the engines of the Harrier in short order. Some of the math seemed to imply that we could stave off disaster for a short time. When the engines blew, the micro-universe would collapse quickly.

There were other things in the math. An inverse warp bubble might create a wormhole. The wormhole might lead back to our universe. Or maybe another, bigger one.

It was a desperate gamble. It was pretty much suicide. Try as I might, I couldn't come up with a more constructive approach. Time was short. I had to move. I designed the warp field and wrote the basic command kernel for the engineering computer.

Then I called a briefing.

--

"What?" Ruezre Vengla said "I can't do that!"

"I have the specs right here." I said, waving the PADD. "Just follow my program and wing it a little bit and we'll be okay."

"The intercooler manifolds will melt in about four minutes under that load! There will be plasma feedback in the warp coils! The phase inducers are probably destroyed right now, just from hearing you suggest it!" Vengla had correctly spotted the weaknesses in my plan before she had even read the specs. Perhaps I hadn't given her enough credit.

"We won't have to hold it for that long." I said

Tillean spoke up. She looked me right in the eye. I knew that she knew. "Are you sure, Captain?"

I looked her right back in the eye. "Yes. I believe this plan will work."

She held my gaze for a moment longer. Then she grinned merrily. "Give the word, Captain!" A typical Vicharrian response. She did, however, grab my PADD and change the math around. When I got it back, the inverse warp bubble had been tuned to a specific frequency. It was a more difficult task for the control computers, but it could be done.

Li'ira had watched the exchange between the two of us. I could see the realization cross her face. As it passed it was replaced by a calm mask. Her poker face.

Ruezre was a hard sell, but eventually she agreed to tune the engines to my specifications. It wasn't that I was going to give her much choice. Now I was able to see the possessiveness and protectiveness of a Chief Engineer for her engines from the other side. Although I had once been a member of that club, I was now the outsider. I was the Commander who demanded the impossible and ruined all the equipment to get it.

Silently I breathed an apology to Commodore Narahrat, where ever he was. I had often given him the same problems when I was the Chief Engineer of the USS Akagi.

In the end, though, the Captain is the boss. My will was done.

--

It took sixteen hours for us to rig the engines for the inverse warp bubble. During this time, the Harrier began to feel the drain of the micro-universe. Each moment that passed found the Harrier's power reserves weakened and drained.

During the work to rig the engines, I could feel things getting better on the ship. We might live or die but at least we were doing something.

Finally all the preparations were complete. The ship was at red alert. I looked around at the bridge. Everyone was ready to go.

"Engage"

I could feel the engines of the USS Harrier thrum. On the Bridge Engineering Station I could see the power output and the temperature rise. The main view screen became a riot of color, drowning out the images of the Harrier. I could see a blue glow of energy begin to surround them as our view screen became obscured.

"Warp bubble formed." Varupuchu reported.

"Warp bubble stabilized!" Tillean said

"Power reserves dropping, Captain." Spaat reported.

The Harrier began to vibrate. I was sweating. Lights were going red all over the Bridge.

"Power reserves have been depleted. We are now at parity." Spaat said. This meant that the Harrier was running flat out. There was no more to give.

"The micro-universe has collapsed against the warp bubble!" Tillean said.

"The warp bubble has become asymmetrical." Varupuchu said.

I thought that we were dead. I expected a flash and then nothingness.

"Captain, the engines are beginning to super heat!" Ruezre reported from Engineering. I could see the temperature rise on the Bridge Engineering Station. It shot up and up.

"Power generation is now negative by 5" Spaat reported. Now the engines of the Harrier were not producing enough energy to sustain the warp bubble. Somehow it wasn't collapsing.

The Harrier's vibrations became worse. White noise from the vibration of the hull was becoming quite loud.

"Warp bubble destabilizing!" Tillean shouted.

"Warning! Engine heat has exceeded design parameters." The computer said.

"We can't hold it! I'm shutting down!" Vengla yelled down in engineering.

I wanted to yell for her to wait. I knew that the moment the warp bubble collapsed, the micro universe would follow. As the edge of the micro-universe crossed us, each of our atoms would cease to exist in one universe and return to its home universe. All energy would be gone from our atoms. Cold and separated, they would join the dark matter nebula.

It hadn't worked. We weren't free. We were going to die no matter what. I just had to accept it. I got as far as not yelling for one more second of life from Ruezre.

The coruscating flow of energy subsided. The engines wound down and quit. The screen returned with stars in it.

On the Bridge of the Harrier, we shouted and danced. We had cheated death. It was just a hell of a lot fun to be alive. I'm told the reaction was the same all over the Harrier.

"Find our position!" I yelled happily "Hail the Ugohaid destroyer!"

Spaat had not joined in the celebration. I wouldn't have expected him to. He did spend a few moments serenely contemplating life. I didn't begrudge it to him. He bent to his task and then double checked.

I then checked engineering. The engines were a mess, but nothing we couldn't fix. We were, however, shut down for the time being.

Tillean was scanning the vicinity. Her joy turned to concentration as she scanned.

"Captain," Spaat said "I have our current position."

We all stopped to listen.

"We are 1,307 light years to spinward of Starbase 24. Starbase 24 is the closest Federation outpost to us."

I sat back in the Captain's chair, stunned. The Harrier could cruise at a sustainable rate of warp six. That was one light year a day. At our best cruising speed, it would take more than three and a half years to return home.

-end-


	6. Chapter 6

REP: Star Trek: Outwardly Mobile (OCC - TNG era) 05 Stable Einsteinium, PG 1/1

Title: Star Trek: Outwardly Mobile 05 Stable Einsteinium

Author: Jay P Hailey ST-OM, OCC - TNG era 05/56?

Rating:PG

Archive: Fine with me, just tell me where.

Disclaimer: Paramount owns all things Star Trek. I claim Original Characters and Situations for me.

Webpage HTTP://jayphailey. Trek: The Voyage of the Harrier

Episode 05: Stable Einsteinium

(Stardate 44955)

By Dennnis Washburn and Jay P. Hailey

_Captain's Log: Stardate 44955.1_

_The starship USS Harrier has been thrown 1,307 light years away from the Federation. An intensive search of our area has revealed no sign of the phenomenon that brought us here._

_With no sign of the phenomenon, and little idea of the mechanics of how it transported us here, I have decided to attempt to travel back to the Federation by more conventional means._

_Chief Engineer Vengla reports that the warp drive should be functional within the hour. Other minor damage to the hull and airlock number six has already been repaired. Once we have warp drive, we will set course and begin our trek home._

--

"Captain, I have an idea." Varupuchu said.

"About what?"

"Communicating with the Federation."

"Okay, tell me about it."

It was typical of Harksain Varupuchu that when I said that, he presented the plan to me on a PADD. All the details were worked out and there were diagrams for how to implement his idea.

"Thank you. I'll read it and get back to you." I sat back in the Captain's chair on the bridge and began to read Varupuchu's plan. It made the wait for the warp drive easier.

Varupuchu's plan borrowed heavily from the weapon improvised by the starship Enterprise-D and used against the Borg a year ago. The weapon itself had not worked, but that had been attributed to the knowledge that the Borg had stolen from Captain Picard.

In Varupuchu's version, the power curve was much broader and less damaging to the ship. It wasn't a sudden, violent release of energy. This version was a coded beam. From where we were, it should be able to carry a message back to the Federation in about twenty weeks. Once there, if I read the schematics correctly, the beam should be a legible message.

This was a great improvement in the range and speed of communications from the Harrier to the Federation. The only drawback was that it did nothing for our ability to receive messages. A Starbase could punch a message out here, especially if they knew where to aim. By then we would have moved, with little predictability. We could report to the Federation but their replies would bea hit or miss occasion.

The ability to report our findings to the Federation pleased me. Exploring space meant returning data to Starfleet Command. Once disseminated to Memory Alpha, the Vulcan Academy of Science or the Smithsonian Institute, the data we gathered was knowledge belonging to the Federation. If something got us during our trip home, something of us would survive. Our trip would not have been in vain.

As I was finishing Varupuchu's presentation, the Engine Room called. "Engineering to Bridge. Warp power has been restored."

"Acknowledged. Helm, set course for Starbase Twenty Four and Engage."

The Harrier had begun her voyage home.

Four days later, we entered the system of a small red star. It wasn't too far from the course to Starbase Twenty Four. I didn't think we'd find anything too interesting. Red dwarf stars are inconveniently small.

We slowly cruised through the system and ran a standard mapping approach. It was somewhat routine. That was exactly what I expected. I wanted the Harrier to have a chance to settle in arrange itself for the long trip.

The intercom chimed for my attention. "Anderson to Captain Hailey."

"Go ahead."

"Would you meet us in the sickbay, please?"

"I'll be right there."

As I walked into the Harrier's sickbay, I saw Ruezre' Vengla, my Chief Engineer. She was standing to one side of the sickbay with Stephanie Anderson. On the diagnostic bed was a female engineering tech. She was blonde, about medium height and weight. Her hair was straight and a little past her shoulder. She looked sullen. Doctor Flynn was running a diagnostic scanner over her.

I walked over to Anderson and Vengla. "Report."

Vengla nodded towards the engineering tech. "Technician Brady reported an intruder." She sounded dubious.

"Oh?" I looked at Stephanie. She shook her head a slight negative. She handed me a PADD. It was Technician Brady's service record. Her last assignment before the USS Harrier had been a medical installation. She had been treated for substance abuse.

"We can't find any evidence to confirm Brady's account." Stephanie said.

Inwardly I grimaced. I had been treated for alcoholism when I was young. The treatment was simply a matter of rebalancing the neurotransmitters and counseling, but the ancient prejudices were another matter.

I dialed up the report on Brady's account. She said she had seen a hulking, humanoid figure. She had been at the arboretum and while walking out had caught sight of the figure. She said it was at least seven feet tall and colored purple. It had been wearing a black and red costume that could have been mistaken for a Starfleet uniform, but it wasn't. The inaccuracies of the costume had caught Brady's eye. The security officer who had taken the statement reported that he had found the account surprising but not inherently impossible.

Stephanie had appended to the report the findings of the tricorder while Brady had reported. According to the tricorder's Lie Detection' program that monitored Brady's physiology, she had not exhibited any symptoms of untruthfulness. Stephanie had searched the records and determined that no crewman who matched Brady's description was on board. It had also revealed Brady's past of substance abuse. Stephanie had added the standard paragraph

from the medical references on the substance Brady preferred.

Pentachlorohydride was a cleaning solvent. Heated carefully it gave off hallucinogenic fumes. Heated improperly, it exploded and burned. The symptoms included paranoia and hallucinations. Usage of the stuff as a drug eventually started to degrade the neurons of the humanoid nervous system and brain.

I approached the diagnostic bed and stood next to Dr. Flynn and Tech Brady. "Doctor? Anything to report?"

"No, Captain." She said "I can detect the after affects of the drug, but I can't tell if they are new or old."

I looked at Brady. She was not looking directly at me, and seemed resentful. I didn't blame her. "Crewman Brady, please tell me what you saw."

She looked at me. I could almost hear her thinking "What's the use? You've already made up your mind!"

What she said was "At about twenty hundred hours I was on deck seven. I was in the Arboretum. I walked out the door that leads to corridor seventeen-j. I saw the figure at the end of the corridor. It was a humanoid figure a little over two meters tall. It was colored purple. The arms were longer than average. The head seemed to flow into the shoulders as though there were no neck. It seemed to be wearing a Starfleet uniform, but the details were wrong. I called out and went down the corridor, but I when I got to the junction at the end of the corridor, there was no sign of it."

It was the report she had given to Security, nearly word for word.

"Do you have any idea what it was that you saw?" I asked.

Brady's face grew hard. "I wish I knew." She cast a meaningful glance at Stephanie.

I realized what she meant. She reported something odd and was being treated like she was the problem. If that kept up, and there was something unusual going on, then the crew might be afraid to report it until it was too late.

"Mr. Anderson, come over here, please." I used the generic male form. I was still struggling with it, when most of the crew of the Harrier was, in fact, female. But the "book" listed Mister' and Sir' as the generic form that assumed everybody.

Stephanie evidently had better things to worry about, because she came right over to me and didn't comment about what form of address I used.

"Please continue the investigation into Crewman Brady's report. Just to be thorough, prove to me that there are no extra presences aboard." I said.

Stephanie looked at me and then said "Aye, Sir."

I groped for the name "Uh, Marsha, isn't it?"

Brady nodded.

"You did the right thing reporting this." I shifted my focus to include both Anderson and Brady. "We are in unknown space. We have to be on our toes about the occasional odd occurrence."

Anderson nodded and Brady seemed to relax a little bit. It's amazing how little a thing can affect people when it comes from the Captain.

I returned to the Bridge. I didn't have a lot to do there, but it was better than the paperwork that awaited me in my office. I had been horrified to discover that Starfleet even had "lost in space" forms. Even if we couldn't report to a Starbase for another seventy years, I'd have all the record keeping I could tolerate for that time.

As I arrived, Varupuchu rose from the Captain's chair and said "Lt. Darvon Ahk wishes to alter the ship's course." His tone spoke scathingly of how he viewed our Science Officer and her habit of speaking to me directly, instead of following the chain of command.

"Oh? Why?" I asked. Lieutenant Darvon Ahk was looking intently at her station and not listening to us one single, solitary bit.

"The Sensors have reported a significant amount of the element einsteinium in the asteroid field ahead." Varupuchu sounded particularly annoyed.

I thought for a moment. "Isn't einsteinium an unstable transuranic element?"

"Yes, Captain." Varupuchu said.

"And doesn't it degrade rapidly once created in the laboratory?"

"Yes, Captain."

"Doesn't that mean that this einsteinium is difficult to find in nature?"

"Virtually impossible."

"Doesn't the decay of einsteinium produce radiation and side effects like that?"

"You could put it that way, yes, Sir."

I turned to Lieutenant Darvon Ahk. "And you want us to get closer to this stuff?"

She turned right around to face me. "Captain, the sensors report no hint of radioactive decay."

She had just told me that she had found some lead floating on the water. "That's not usually possible, is it?"

"No, Captain. Sensors also indicate that it has been in this system for approximately 80,000 years."

"That's somewhat longer than einsteinium usually stays intact, isn't it?"

"Yes, Captain. Einsteinium rarely lasts more than a few millionths of a second when created in the lab."

I turned back to Varupuchu. His expression was calm and serene. "Of course, you checked all the sensors." I said.

"Of course, Captain. They show no malfunction."

I turned back to Darvon Ahk. "So this stuff is just sitting there, being impossible at us."

She dimpled prettily. "That's right, Captain."

I turned back towards Varupuchu. "I believe an investigation is in order, Mr. Varupuchu."

"Aye, Captain."

I sat back in the Captain's chair and watched as Varupuchu and Darvon Ahk quickly organized a very thorough scientific investigation. They were good at it and it was a pleasure to watch.

Two hours later, I was bored stiff. Varupuchu had taken the Harrier to a closer, but still prudent distance from the asteroids. Most of the crew, including myself, were doing basic maintenance work on the Harrier while Varupuchu and Darvon Ahk ran every scan they could think of.

As the results from the scans came in, the Science Department of the Harrier began to go to work. They really enjoyed it. Everyone with any training in physics or chemistry became a scientist. Scan results were copied from PADD to PADD , and everyone took a turn at trying to invent a hypothesis that could be proven or disproven.

As the day wore on I even grabbed a PADD and tried to make sense of some of the readings, myself. I actually came up with a hypothesis and a scanning method to prove it. On the very next run of the sensors I was proven dead wrong. I didn't feel too bad. I think nearly everyone on the ship had that experience.

By that evening, everyone was tired and happily frustrated. The stable einsteinium remained stubbornly impossible and present.

The next afternoon, Stephanie came to me with a report. "Crewman Brady identified the race of her phantom."

"That's good news."

"It was a Broadbignagian."

I read the report. The Broadbignagians were, according to the latest reports, a primitive race under prime directive protection. They had gunpowder and sails. They had a complex system of caste and status, that even they had a difficult time sorting out. There was absolutely no reason at all that one would be on a Federation starship this far out of Federation space.

"That's bad news." I said

"There's worse. Brady has never served on a ship or unit that has come into contact with the Broadbignagians. There isn't any real reason for her to have ever looked them up. The odds on it being a hallucination seem to go up and down with each new fact." Stephanie sounded frustrated.

For the rest of the day, The science department continued beating their heads against a wall. The Harrier was taken closer to the asteroids that contained the impossible element. There were other minerals and elements in the asteroids. These were normal and mundane asteroid material. There was a clue, however. All the material that we could understand had been thoroughly melted and stressed at about the same time, 80,000 years ago.

"So the belt was a single object until 80,000 years ago?" I asked.

Tillean looked at me with badly disguised pity. She didn't respect conclusion jumping. She was quite tired. Like me, she also wanted results right away.

"It's possible." She allowed. She obviously didn't want to commit to the idea too soon.

"Would it help to bring a sample aboard for direct study?" I asked.

Tillean's eyes lit up. She liked the idea. Varupuchu's expression grew arctic, and his eyes hard. "We still don't know enough about what is making the einsteinium stable. If that effect fails while a sizable sample is aboard, then we have a big problem, Sir."

"Could a shuttle craft hold enough equipment for a preliminary study?" I suggested.

"It would be very preliminary..." Tillean said.

"Make the arrangements for handling a sample by remote control aboard a shuttle." I said. When Tillean began to object I continued "Once it fails to destroy the shuttle, then we can beam investigators over to do in person testing."

Nobody especially liked the idea, but no one could come up with a better one, so I knew I had a working compromise plan.

By that evening the shuttle was readied. Nearly the whole crew was watching as it moved up to an asteroid and using a robot arm, dug out a sample of stable einsteinium.

Aboard the shuttle, the stable einsteinium stayed stable, impossible and inscrutable.

As I went off duty, Li'ira came up to the bridge and prepared to continue the days work. Maybe she would make some progress.

The next day was much the same. Science Department crewmen were beaming over to the shuttle all day. They carried armloads of equipment back and forth. Everyone had a pet theory and we developed a waiting list to conduct physical experiments.

The chemistry of stable einsteinium was odd. We generated a lot of new data about chemical science. We were figuring out nearly everything about this stuff except how it was managing to exist.

That evening Stephanie came to me with yet another disturbing report. "We have had a rash of petty thefts, Captain." My head started to throb. After a day of scientific befuddlement I wanted to go lie down.

"You wouldn't be reporting this to me unless there was something odd." I prompted.

"True, Captain. The thief walked past items with intrinsic value and stole objects of sentimental value. Credits and gold pressed latinum were left on the same desk where a picture of someone's mother was taken."

"Only items with sentimental value were taken? Nothing valuable?"

"Not exactly. There were valuable items taken, but they were items that also held sentimental value."

"Great..."

Lacking a better plan of attack, I wrote a memo to the crew to report everything odd. I blamed the unknown nature of the stable einsteinium. I hoped that someone in the crew had seen something, only to dismiss it as a figment of their imagination. Maybe someone had seen the vital clue, but hadn't had any context to judge it in. It wasn't much, but it beat interrogating Marsha Brady again and again.

Then I went to go see Flagg. I didn't like it. He had remained extremely quiet during the opening days of our trek. I knew that he had some mission that had been interrupted by our displacement. If he had been upset by this I hadn't heard about it from him.

The computer told me that he was on the holodeck. I read the control panel as I entered. Flagg was running a "Klingon calisthenics" program. I knew the one. Everyone I had asked had snuck down to the holodeck and tried it at one time or another. Who wasn't curious about how they measured up to the Klingon Warrior ideal? The results were about what you'd expect. It was a sobering program.

I opened the door and stood in the arch watching. Flagg had it up to a level I had never personally seen. Level five was one that challenged expert Klingon martial artists, and was too tough for the run of the mill individual of almost any race.

Three creatures were ganging up on Flagg. He was bare chested, and had on a set of workout tights. His wrists were taped, but other than that he was empty handed. His body looked something like Bruce Lee's. He was covered in perspiration and was shining as though greased.

I didn't catch all of what happened. The three creatures came together on Flagg and swiped with swords and spears. They all swiped at the same space, each at a different level. I didn't see any physical way to avoid the attack. Except Flagg hadn't waited. While they set up their formation attack, Flagg was already halfway through an odd twisty dance motion.

The creatures came together and then fell down. Flagg danced away holding one of their weapons. One of the creatures rose from the pile and staggered towards Flagg. It was injured. I could see icor and gore running down its side. They looked like jello. Flagg held a perfect ready position. His muscles were tight and he had a fearsome grin on his face. I didn't like it at all.

Then the creature drew a .38 special out of its armor. My eyes bugged out. I could feel them. Flagg's smile vanished, but he kept his composure. He fled, seeking cover. It took the injured creature three shots to bring Flagg down, but in the end, it got him.

As I stood there with my mouth open, the computer told Flagg that he was dead, and his points were nullified. Flagg grabbed a towel and wiped himself down, laughing ruefully.

"What can I do for you, today, Captain?" Flagg laughed.

"Tell me what you can about internal security aboard a starship?" I asked.

"Isn't that Lieutenant Commander Anderson's department?"

"Not from the same angle as you."

Flagg laughed again. "I'll make you a deal. You brief me, and I'll brief you."

I thought it over. "You're on." Flagg was indeed a bastard. But he was a Federation bastard. People of the Federation, bastards or no, were a little thin in these parts.

Later, in the lounge, Flagg told me "Imagine a personal cloaking device."

I did. "There's no way to get the power curve down. A single person couldn't carry it."

"Not like an engineer. Imagine if you could have one? Imagine if you had the magical power to turn yourself invisible? You are the invisible man, and you are spying on this ship. What would you do?"

I began to think it through. The implications were not pleasant.

Flagg could see the expression on my face. "Counter Intelligence lesson number one. You're welcome."

"It is?"

"Yes, it's the basic exercise in the beginning class.."

Then I had to explain to Flagg where we were and what we were doing. Nobody had told him anything in the last few days. He knew that we were lost, and that there was a lot of science activity about stable einsteinium.

I had to suppress a grin. Maybe it was not the smart or courteous thing to do, but the crew of the Harrier had not told Flagg a single thing. The only things he knew were by eavesdropping on the conversations in the lounge.

"Hmmm." Flagg said "Three to five years, did you say?"

"Yes."

"Inconvenient."

"I apologize."

"No matter. I can see some advantages to being shut away for that long."

"I'm glad you can take such a constructive view."

"I'll do anything to help of course."

"Thank you."

The next day I learned that Flagg had stopped by the science labs and had taught them how to rearrange the sensor inputs for greater accuracy and shorter range. After that, our confusion about the stable einsteinium was much more detailed and specific.

Meanwhile I had a long night creating imaginary trouble as an invisible man.

The next day, I sat down with Stephanie Anderson, and Gerald Bruce, my hacker/yeoman and designed some programs for the ship's computer to run in the background.

One of them was an access code for the command functions of the ship. It would be easy to crack, but that wasn't the point. The ship's computer aboard the USS Harrier would now begin to learn the habits of the users of each station. If a given user radically changed his habits with his console, then the change would be noted and brought to Stephanie's attention. This would give us a trail to follow after the fact.

I also had the computer keep track of the openings and closing of each door. The computer would begin to draw a list of the habits of the crew as they used their work stations and moved through the ship.

I also had tricorders hidden at random intervals through the ship. These were set to record who came through certain doors. The scan would be activated by the door sensor and the results of the scan checked against security and medical records. They were set to raise an alert if a door opened and nobody came through. A malfunctioning door would lead to a scare, but I figured they needed to be fixed, anyway.

I hated the idea of spying on my own crew. It grated bitterly. I tried to salve my conscience by having the computer do most of the monitoring and then locking the data away under my own personal lockouts. The computer would only alert us if something changed. This was a thin rationalization, and I knew it.

Stephanie reported that her security teams were starting to work on the reports of odd happenings from the crew. Most of the reports were dreams or turned out to be normal stuff taken out of context. There were two more odd sightings. The descriptions didn't match Crewman Brady's, but there seemed to be something going on.

At the end of the next shift, I took Li'ira to my office and briefed her on the new systems. She was deeply unhappy about what I had done.

"Captain." She said stiffly, "It is my duty to remind you that you are violating the Articles of Federation, specifically section two, the Guarantees of Personal Freedoms, Item four specifically guarantees Federation citizens freedom from searches of or intrusions on their persons, effects, intellectual property, beliefs and lifestyle without due cause."

"Commander, I'm not searching unreasonably. We might have an intruder aboard." It sounded lame to me when I said it.

"The Fifth Guarantee specifies privacy for Federation Citizens especially in the areas named in the Fourth Guarantee."

"I won't violate anyone's privacy if I can help it. The information is locked down under my personal codes. The computer is only authorized to alert you if there is a notable change in habits by any user."

"With all due respect, Captain, that's only until YOU decide that you want to know what's going on inside the computer. Am I under suspicion of being an intruder? If not, then why search me?"

"We are a ship under way in space, Commander! You are dangerously close to insubordination. If you have a complaint about my actions, then log them, and press charges when we return to Starbase Twenty Four! Until then, my orders stand!"

"Aye, Sir!" Li'ira turned on her heel and marched stiffly and directly out of my office.

I went to my quarters and failed to sleep at all. An eternity later, Li'ira's voice sounded on my intercom. "Captain to the Bridge!"

I rolled out of bed and found an hour had passed. I struggled into my uniform and ran to the Bridge.

"Report." I said as I left the turbo lift.

"Sensors report anomalous door activation, Captain!" Stephanie was excited. Li'ira sat in the center seat, her back as straight as a ramrod. Her expression was very mildly sour.

I went straight to Stephanie's' station and looked at the reports. Several doors had opened, but the patterns were slow in emerging. Crew people were walking the corridors with no perception that there might be an intruder near.

"Yellow alert." I ordered "Sound general quarters for an intruder alert."

Alarms started going off. I said "Computer, this is Captain Jay P. Hailey, Place isolation fields at sections thirty four, thirty-five and thirty six, on deck seven."

"Working," The computer said.

"Send security to the area." I ordered Stephanie.

"I'm already on it, Captain." She replied.

For the next hour, we played a frustrating game of cat and mouse with a mystery object that might have been a figment of the computer's imagination. The Security Squads running through the area threw off the computer's analysis of patterns. Twice more the tricorders reported a door opening for no reason. I hadn't planted enough of them to record a pattern. Each time the door in question had been sealed off by isolation fields. No one was there and no one could have gotten there. Engineering crews reported no malfunction of the doors or their sensors.

As we called off the alert and stood the Security squads down, I had an inspiration.

"Mr. Spaat, please begin an analysis of the life support systems. We know who was aboard the ship and when. If there is someone new aboard then they will have breathed and eaten and lived, giving off heat. The life support system will have had to adjust to that."

"Aye, Sir." Spaat began to set up the problem on the computer.

Then I went back to my quarters and put my shoes on.

About an hour later, Spaat and Stephanie reported the results of the life support system analysis.

Stephanie looked straight ahead I could see a flush under her brown skin. "Captain. Our analysis has located an intruder."

"Do you know where he is right now?"

"Yes, Captain."

"Let's go."

The intruder was on deck twelve, in a lightly used section of the Harrier. There were crew quarters down there, but we did not use them. They were small cubbies set up for two people, dorm style. Once upon a time Starfleet had found more numerous crews necessary. These days we were more conscious of comfort and long term stability of individual crew members.

Although these old quarters dated back fifty years, they had been left intact against the possibility that the Harrier would have to pack additional crew or refugees somewhere. These were the quarters the Marines were using, only the Marines were in another section of the ship.

As we rode the turbo lift to deck twelve I skimmed the report. The reason for Stephanie's' discomfort became clear. Whoever had been breathing our air and using a replicator that was supposed to be shut down had been doing so for about three months.

We met a squad of Security at the corridor leading to the intruder's quarters. I could see another group at the far end of the corridor. The group we met had headsets on. They were black strips of plastic that wrapped around the head and touched the left ear. There was also a thin microphone in front of their face. I wondered what was wrong with a standard comm-badge, until I saw the Squad Leader whispering through it to the Squad Leader on the other side.

Some of the security officers were wearing a chest plate of armor. It was gray metal in a black plastic binding. It looked oddly familiar. Then I remembered that nearly one hundred years ago, Starfleet Security had experimented with body armor a lot like these. I looked closely, and sure enough, there was the old Starfleet insignia on the armor.

One of the Security Officers handed me a phaser. I took it, but I knew that it was a formality. They didn't want me in that corridor, and I wasn't going to risk getting in their way. I noticed that the man who handed me the phaser had a set of tall sturdy boots on and a big bowie knife stuck in a scabbard in the top of the boot.

I shook my head, and then gave Stephanie the go ahead signal. She went down the corridor herself, accompanied by two of the security squad. Two more approached from the other side.

They quietly went to a door in the corridor. Stephanie and her Security flattened themselves against that side of the corridor. I noticed that the security near me had their phasers out and were looking all around us. If some one had tried to go around us, he would have had to go a long way.

Stephanie grabbed one of the security headsets and whispered quietly into it. She held up three fingers. One of the Security Officers pushed me back until I was mostly out of sight. He would have put me completely out of the way, but I wanted to see what happened.

Stephanie counted down one, two, three. The door slid open and they went through quickly. I heard Stephanie shouting "Get down on the floor!" I heard other voices, confused and not as loud.

Soon, one of the Security Officers came out and waved all clear. I went to see what had happened.

I entered the small room and saw a boy. He was fourteen or fifteen. Stephanie stood across the room watching him. Two of the other Security Officers covered him with phaser rifles. He was crying, and looked frightened out of his mind. One side of his face was red from being slammed into the carpet on the deck.

There were things in the room. A few decorations and knickknacks personalized the room. One of the Security men was looking over a comm-badge. The cover was off, and there was an isolinear chip wired into it. I took the badge from the security officer and examined it. It was a rough job, evidently done by hand.

"Who are you and how did you get on my ship?" I asked the boy.

He sniveled and tried to straighten. "I- I'm Harvey Del Rio, Captain Hailey, Sir."

"And how did you get here?"

"My dad worked on the Harrier at Starbase 412. He brought me aboard to show me what his job was like. I really wanted to see what it was like to be in Starfleet, so I stole the comm-badge and used my dad's access to come aboard."

I was horrified. Most boys would try to stow away on a starship given the chance and I didn't blame him. But we had only stopped at Starbase 412 for a one week layover. We had warped out right after and had never entered that sector again.

"I didn't mean to stay, but YOU NEVER WENT BACK!" Harvey yelled "How was I supposed to go home if you didn't go back!?"

Later, Harvey was in the sickbay getting an examination. The comm-badge he had altered had been broken. He had wired in the isolinear chip with the identification of an officer on it. Once he had gotten it working, he had a comm-badge that swore he was a lieutenant assigned to the Harrier. Using this identification Harvey had been able to sneak through the jefferies tubes and unused corridors of the ship.

Stephanie was upset. I didn't blame her. It amounted to a massive failure of the Security Department, and there was simply no other way around it. I didn't feel so good about it, myself.

Harvey was in as good a shape as possible considering his lifestyle for the last ninety days. I was in a bind. Legally, the penalty for a stow-away was to be decided by an analysis of the life support capacity of the starship. If the starship's commander felt that the ship could reach base with a reasonable amount of safety, then the stow-away would be brigged until the ship reached base. If the starship could not make it to the next base, or the commanding officer felt that he endangered the ship, the stow-away was to be killed.

It was an old rule from back in the days when starships were slow and the trip to nearby stars took a couple of years.

I had no doubts that the Harrier could easily support Harvey along with her regular crew. We had considerable leeway there. But I did not want to brig a fifteen year old for the next three to five years. Not for something that I might have done in his shoes.

"Harvey," I said to the boy "I want you to ask to join Starfleet."

He was taken aback "Huh? Why?"

"Just do it, Harvey."

"But I..."

"Do you want to spend the next three years in the brig?"

"No."

"Then what do you want?"

"I...I wanna join Starfleet, Captain."

"Harvey Del Rio, raise your right hand, and repeat after me."

I swore Harvey in as a member of Starfleet, and gave him a field promotion to Recruit. Now I was as legally responsible for Harvey as I was for anyone else aboard. At least I didn't have to chuck the boy into the brig.

I immediately assigned Recruit Del Rio to remedial education. Fortunately, the obsessively complete nature of the Starfleet Archives meant that we had a good number of educational programs available.

I logged the decision and my reasons for it, and then went to bed.

The next day, Stephanie reported new reports of petty thefts. Harvey was not the one responsible for them. We had searched his quarters and questioned him on the subject. It had been clear that he knew as much as anyone on the subject, which was nothing.

An analysis of the tricorder scans during the first event revealed an odd phenomenon. There were areas that showed no dust or particles. These areas were two meters tall. It seemed to appear and disappear randomly.

I realized that we might be facing the hypothetical invisible man, after all.

Stephanie and Flagg came up a way to scan for dust in the air with an old fashioned laser scan. The laser would scan back and forth, sweeping an area.

Before we could get these emplaced, the computer reported another nothing passing through doors on the USS Harrier. It was on deck seven, near the arboretum.

We locked down the ship and put the force fields back up, to isolate sections of the ship. Security started to deploy in groups. They moved into a variety of positions designed to make moving around the ship difficult. They tried to make approaching the restricted areas, like the Bridge and Engineering nearly impossible to get to.

I had an idea. The events were happening on deck seven near the Arboretum. I decided to go to the Arboretum. As I went I could hear Stephanie ordering her security people around the Harrier, trying to get ahead of the intruder. We still didn't know if there actually was an intruder. We might have been trying to trap random crew movements or door malfunctions.

I didn't really think so. I walked down deck seven and into the Arboretum. I listened to the reports of doors opening and closing. I heard the door to corridor seventeen-j open and close.

I held my arms out away from my sides. I turned around and said "Please talk to me."

Now, if someone was curious about us, I didn't blame him. I was eager to answer questions, and maybe ask a few of my own. Was the intruder even here? Did he even exist? If he had violent intentions, then he had plenty of opportunity to create havoc. As far as I knew, he hadn't.

"I know you're here." I said to a tree. "I don't mean any harm."

Then I heard the door open. "Wait! Won't you talk to us, please!" The door closed. As it closed the isolation field ripped like water on the surface of a pond. I could see a large humanoid figure silhouetted in the interference.

I heard more reports from the bridge. He had just walked through several force fields, and past Security. I said "Hailey to bridge. Engage isolation fields throughout the ship. Go to yellow alert."

A Security squad reported "Contact! Contact! Bridge, permission to fire?"

I said "Denied. Do not fire."

I ran for the turbo lift to the bridge. "Tactical, reconfigure main phaser bank for a low power scanning beam."

"Aye, sir." The adjustment was not a physical one. It was a matter of loading the correct software. I hoped we had the time.

"Go to red alert and scan for transporter beams." I ordered. If the intruder had a personal cloaking device, I figured that he would be able to transport off the Harrier, unnoticed.

"Scanning." Varupuchu answered.

The alarms sounded. I was surrounded by the crew of the Harrier scrambling to battle stations. As I got to the turbo-lift, it swished open for me. Rank does have its privileges.

"Malfunction!" Stephanie reported as I walked onto the bridge. "Airlock Six reports a breach. Force fields in place and holding."

A few moments later Stephanie said "Phasers report ready for scanning beam."

"Scan the area close to the ship, about 1 kilometer." I said. Stephanie turned control of the main phasers over to Varupuchu. He programmed a scan sequence. The phaser beams stretched out and played rapidly over the area nearby the Harrier.

"Contact." Varupuchu announced. On the main screen we could see the outline of an odd shuttle craft moving away. It was cloaked. A cloaked shuttle craft, for the love of Mike.

"Hail that ship." I said

"Hailing frequencies open, Captain."

"This is Captain Hailey of the USS Harrier. We are on a peaceful exploration mission. Won't you please communicate with us?"

We waited.

"The intruder's ship is accelerating away." Varupuchu reported.

"Match course and speed." I said. The Harrier swung around and began to pursue the cloaked shuttle.

"He is beginning evasive maneuvers." Varupuchu said. On the screen the picture of the intruder's shuttle became shaky and blurry as the scanning beam began to lose it momentarily.

"We are a peaceful species. We only wish friendly contact." I was actually somewhat irritated. I was ready to jam peaceful contact right down this alien's throat, like it, or not.

"We're intercepting a transmission from the shuttle." Stephanie reported.

"On screen."

The Screen wavered and showed the purple, neckless, bulky form of a Broadbignagian. He said "This is pilot first level, scientist ninth level, to superior officer lieutenant of the science vessel Hargnagh. The intruders have penetrated my cloak and now pursue me. I can not decipher their alien culture or systems of status. With no clues how to address them, I could not make contact. I have acquired several items which have emotional and psionic impressions, for later analysis. I now declare distress. Please come to my aid."

I thought it over. "Was that transmission coded?"

Stephanie checked. "Yes, Captain, but lightly."

"Break off pursuit." I said "Stand down to yellow alert and head us back to our shuttle craft."

Li'ira gave me an odd look, but issued the orders to comply.

As we returned to the sight of our investigation I was tense. The open distress call to reinforcements just out of sensor range was a standard tactic. But these people could build personal cloaking devices and cloaked shuttle craft. If the rest of their technology was as advanced then we might be out gunned by one of their runabouts. I decided not to risk it.

We retrieved the shuttle craft and slunk to another location in the asteroid belt. I wanted to continue the investigation into the impossible minerals.

Later analysis showed that the intruder was indeed some sort of Broadbignagian. I didn't know what to make of it. Where the primitive Broadbignagians an off shoot? Some sort of lost colony? If the cultures were similar, then the reason for the intruder's shyness was clear. They needed a definite sign of rank and status. Not only were the differences between three gold collar pips and four too subtle for them to notice, but the concept of "Captain" or "First Officer" was unacceptably vague. The Intruder couldn't address us because be didn't know what mode to use. Choosing the wrong one would have dishonored him to the point of death.

We noticed a single small warp signature leaving the system a few hours later. It might have been the intruder's shuttle...

We spent the next two days beating our heads out over the stable einsteinium. I realized that we could probably spend months investigating the phenomenon, but that wouldn't move us any closer to home.

I ordered the crew to pack back up and secure for travel. We took a sample of the stable einsteinium for later study back in the Federation. I thought the best scientific minds of the Federation had probably had it too easy until then, anyway.

As we warped away from the star, the samples became normal einsteinium and quickly degraded, radioactively. We had to jettison the samples and their containers.

Even though it gave us a vital clue about what was going on, I decided to keep going. Someday another Federation ship would be out this way. Maybe they could solve the riddle.

The Harrier made warp six for a day. Then we stopped. It took another twenty hours to arrange for Varupuchu's communications cannon.

Finally with the engines pulsing to create a standing subspace wave, and main power channeled through the main navigational deflectors, I said:

_"This is captain Jay P. Hailey of the starship Harrier, calling Starfleet Command. The Stardate is 44967.3. We are 1,300 light years away from the Federation in the direction of Starbase Twenty Four and the Klingon Empire. Our exact coordinates to follow. The ship is in good condition, the crew including Lt. Colonel John Flagg and Harvey Del Rio of Starbase 412 are fine. We are headed for Starbase Twenty Four. Our ETA, Stardate 50900.1._

_Stand by for data transmission."_

I appended the report on the stable einsteinium to the transmission. I couldn't transmit too much. The beam could only hold so much data. I couldn't be sure that the people between us and home wouldn't listen in. They knew where we were and that we were alive. That helped a lot.

-End-


	7. Chapter 7

REP: Star Trek: Outwardly Mobile (OCC - TNG era) 06 - The Dorians and the Sixians, PG 1/1

Title: Star Trek: Outwardly Mobile 06 - The Dorians and the Sixians

Author: Jay P Hailey ST-OM, OCC - TNG era 06/54?

Rating:PG

Archive: Fine with me, just tell me where.

Disclaimer: Paramount owns all things Star Trek. I claim Original Characters and Situations for me.

Webpage HTTP://jayphailey. Trek: Outwardly Mobile

Episode 06: The Dorians and the Sixians

(Stardate 45105)

By

Dennnis Washburn

and

Jay P. Hailey

We were a month into our journey and the diplomatic reception was going very well.

The reception was being held in the hall of an ancient palace. The ceiling was twenty feet over our heads and I could see intricate paintings on it. Baroque moldings framed the paintings.

The walls were similarly decorated with intricate designs and art.

A historian was talking to me.

"This was the final palace of the Age of Accountants." He said. It hardly looked like an accountant's idea of cost effective.

"Really? Did the Accountants have many palaces?" I said brightly. I'm sure it was a stupid question, but I was new to Doria III, and stupid sounding questions were all I had.

"Oh, yes." The historian said "Before the Great Rectification the accountants ruled with an iron fist. Opulence among the ruling class was the norm."

"Oh, how fascinating." I said. He seemed to need little encouragement. I understood. History was one of my hobbies, but it was lonely. One rarely met anyone to talk with who understood the value of the subject.

A servant came by us. She was dressed in a fancy costume that reminded me of an Elizabethan Judo practitioner. It was a gi in red and blue silk like material with lace and filigree adorning it. Leggings and a high collar completed the effect. She carried a tray of drinks and refreshments. I took a bland little tofu-like cake and a glass of juice. I had been briefed before the official reception had started and shown what to eat and drink, and what to avoid. I did want to stay sober.

"Thank you." I said as I took the refreshments off her tray. I wished that I had some local currency to tip her. Alien VIPs and a major diplomatic reception can't be an easy job.

She looked at me oddly and continued on her way.

Maybe the Dorians didn't have the custom of tipping. Even though we were all people, in the broadest possible sense, it didn't mean that we all did things the same way.

The Ambassador came over to me and interceded. Maybe he thought he was protecting me from a horribly boring diatribe from the historian. I didn't mind being rescued too much.

"Good evening Captain Hailey!" He said "How are you doing? May I get you anything?"

"No, thank you. Sub-Minister Salby was telling me that this was the last of the palaces of the Accountants."

"The last and the grandest!" He waved his hands expansively. "We keep it this way as an exhibit of our past for the edification of our citizens, and for special diplomatic functions."

"Did you meet the Gallowayans here?" I asked.

"Goodness! I helped sign the final version of our trade agreement at that desk over there." He pointed it out. "They later sent a payment for half the rent of the hall for the duration of the event!" He seemed vastly amused at this.

"The Gallowayans are interesting people." I allowed.

"What did the Gallowayans say about us?" He asked.

Two weeks ago we had met the Gallowayans. They were a trading empire in the area that we found ourselves. Since we were lost and isolated from the UFP, we approached with caution, and found the Gallowayans to be nice folks. They viewed the world in a complex set of value assignments and cost benefit ratios. The results were surprising.

The Gallowayans were guarding a world near the Dorian system. As it turned out they had a version of the Prime Directive. They felt that a premature contact with a primitive world would damage the culture involved. This, they felt, would reduce the value of later trading relationships between future generations of the Gallowayans and the natives. The future carried a heavy value among the Gallowayans.

We had made an agreement with the specific Gallowayan ship we had encountered. This amounted to a contract to conduct future contact and profitable relationships through that ship. Each trading ship of the Gallowayans was an independent financial entity among their culture. In return they had told us of what they knew of the space between us and home.

It wasn't a lot, but it helped.

The nearest planet with which the Gallowayans traded was in the Dorian System. I felt that the Gallowayans were trustworthy in their estimate of the readiness of the Dorians for contact with other races.

I had gained a new understanding of the old phrase "Any port in a storm." The starship Harrier was facing a three to five year journey home through unknown space. I was searching for a friendly place to take a rest, to catch our breath and to get some parts to fix the ship with. Our arrival in this area had used up some critical components of the Harrier. We were using our replacements. I didn't like that. Every trained spaceman likes at least one backup at hand. I liked three if I could get them.

So we went to Doria III and found a hearty welcome waiting for us there. It was almost too good to be true.

Part of the Dorian enthusiasm I understood. The Gallowayan charts said that Doria was a source for minerals of all kinds and a market for low tech goods. As we entered we scanned no subspace activity. There were no warp drives or subspace radios. I almost backed out, but they were ready for visitors.

There were boundary markers and impulse powered patrol ships to greet us. Despite the speed of light delay, they seemed most hospitable. The culmination of this was the diplomatic reception.

I replied to the Ambassador's question. "They said that you were friendly, open and a good source for minerals."

He grinned. The Dorians had fluted nose channels and their foreheads were segmented and enlarged, in the manner of humanoids with advanced senses of smell. The effect of a grin on his face was extreme and catchy. The grin shined through his eyes. I knew why he was the Ambassador. He was hard not to like.

"That's the Gallowayans, always on the bottom line right away." He said merrily. "Tell me more of your United Federation of Planets."

I knew right away that the Dorians were after warp drives of their own and higher technology than the Gallowayans were willing to trade to them. I jollied them along. As allies of the Federation, they would have a remote control relationship with the UFP. A great deal of the way the Federation treated them would have to do with my report and the report of my officers. I didn't want to commit to anything or make any promises that would later backfire.

It was a certainty that the Federation would be a long time in sending a starship out here to double check me.

I answered all the questions the Ambassador put to me, and explained things as well as I could. We had downloaded a packet to the Dorians. It was a collection of public access information about the UFP. It was honest and truthful as far as it went. It was obviously pro-Federation in its bias. It didn't talk about embarrassing incidents or things that hadn't worked out in a simple, cheerful way.

Some Captains added information from other points of view. Many called it a sales brochure and joked about the complimentary T-shirts, mugs and pens to hand out with it.

The Dorians were still plowing through it, and were formulating questions as they went. It would take them a while. It had taken hours to download all the information to them and we strained the limits of their data storage media doing it.

So I struggled with explaining the Prime Directive and gave specific examples of how it had come to be.

"So the Iotians dress in traditional costumes from Earth? And they mimic your traditions?" The Ambassador said. He no doubt thought it quaint.

I thought of the drive by shootings during my visit to the Federation mission to the planet. "Er, their interpretation is, well, unique."

"I don't doubt it." The Ambassador agreed. He was good at that.

I looked for the officers who had accompanied me to the surface of Doria III. There was Tillean Darvon Ahk, my science officer. She was a Vicharrian with delicately upswept ears, white hair, purple eyes, and a lot of enthusiasm for science. She was earnestly waving her hands and making notes on her tricorder, while talking to the Dorian Minister of Science.

Stephanie Anderson, the Harrier's chief of Security loitered coincidentally nearby me and watched everyone who came around me. She was in state of relaxed readiness. We didn't expect anything to happen, but Stephanie knew that was when the jaws of a trap might close. This made her wary. Stephanie didn't fear the threat that she saw and recognized. She feared the one that she didn't see.

Seamus McTague had a group around him. The Harrier's Counselor was an interesting person. He was a large red headed Irishman. He played the stereotypical Irishman like it was a role invented just for him. He was waving a drink around and telling a story. I could see him working the pauses and emphasizing things with his finger. He made lots of eye contact and sold his story for all it was worth.

He appeared drunk, but I wasn't sure. He seemed to have been waving a drink of the same color for some time. His audience found him easy to like. So did I. His personality was catchy.

I looked at my watch. It was time. I went to the window and looked up. Through the glass I could see the sky, and the stars. There were quite a number of artificial stars in orbit around Doria III. They were space stations and factories, moved to orbit to shield the carefully managed and tended ecology of Doria III.

I was no talent at astrogation, but I had passed the basic course. Right on schedule, there was a sparkle as the sunlight glinted off the white hull of a starship. The USS Harrier, passing in standard orbit right over our heads.

She looked good. It seemed as though things were going to work out fine.

--

Later that evening we relaxed in our quarters at the palace. Stephanie scanned with her tricorder and pronounced the room free of bugs.

"Okay, let's hear it." I said.

Tillean started. "They have a reasonably advanced science and technology. They are not up to subspace theory yet, or anything connected with it. But in some ways they are advanced beyond where Earth was when Zefram Cochrane invented Earth's warp drive."

"They are aware that the second planet in the system has been terraformed, but have discovered no clues about who did the work, despite seventy years of exploration of the surface."

"Their social sciences seem more advanced. Their culture seems more stable and peaceful than any world I've seen outside the Federation." Tillean was obviously pleased with what she had found so far.

Stephanie made her report. "I saw no one who posed any threat. They have lasers and certain types of projectile weaponry evident, perhaps sonic weapons. No one seemed interested in harming us, or making a threatening gesture. Their own security is adequate, but not spectacular. It would take a competent assassin or a crazy to get through."

McTague said "They seem a friendly bunch, that they are. A little naive, perhaps. Many of the galactic standard myths or legends in my repertoire seem new to them. They have an expectation of being able to change jobs and learn new things as a general thing. They are used to having servants about. They're happy to meet us, because the Gallowayans have a limited trade program with them, and refuse to expand it any."

That made me nervous. Did the Gallowayans know something that I didn't? Almost certainly. I had no way of knowing what their cost benefit analysis came up with nor how they weighted it.

The only thing that we could do was to keep exploring and learn what we could.

Towards that end I signaled for room service. A servant came to take our orders.

"May I serve you?" He said

"You know that we're from the ship in orbit, right?" I said.

"Really?" He said he seemed excited by the prospect. "You're the aliens?"

"Yes, I suppose we are. Didn't you know who you'd be the room service guy for tonight?"

He seemed perplexed "No, sir. They never tell us things like that."

"What if we had some strange, alien need to fulfill? What if we needed some strange substance to survive?"

He seemed worried "I'm certain that everything you could want or need is stocked in the Palace tonight sir! If not, then I will go and fetch it from wherever it may be." He bowed, nearly to the floor.

"Don't sweat it." I told him, "We came equipped to handle all of our alien needs."

McTague had been taking a swig from a flask that I didn't know he had. He snorted some of the contents of the flask out his nose and had a coughing fit. I shot him a dirty look.

The servant seemed nervous.

"What we need from you is information. What's your name?"

"Jeoj." He seemed even more nervous.

I beckoned to my Science Officer. "Tillean, get this in the tricorder will you?"

She got her tricorder and began to set up for a game of twenty questions.

Stephanie and McTague retired to other rooms in the palatial quarters to change out of the dress uniforms.

"How long have you worked here, Jeoj?" I asked.

"Since I came of age, sir." Jeoj seemed proud of that. I couldn't tell how old he was.

"Are you happy here?"

"Oh, yes sir! This assignment carries much prestige."

"Where did you go to school?"

"School, Sir?"

"Um, where they teach you things?"

"Oh! They do that in the Crèche, Sir."

"You were raised in a crèche'? Why?"

"Well, I was born there, Sir. Hardly fair to ask someone else to do it." He laughed at this. Apparently attempting to relieve the tension.

I grinned mildly at him. "And what did they teach you at the crèche'?"

"Oh, all sorts of stuff, if it pleases you, Sir."

"Please tell me a little about that."

Jeoj then told us of his time in a schooling program designed to create a technically apt servant. We prompted him, and he told us of his early life, happily growing up in some sort of servant class crèche.

"Some sort of class division, evidently." I said to Tillean.

"Yeah." She said grimly. I remembered that personal freedom and prowess were prized in her home culture. This must look especially nasty to her.

"Lieutenant, have you seen any external clues about where the division lies? Color, markings or something?" I asked her.

She got the hint. "No, Sir. I have nothing of the kind. The reason for the division might be contextual."

"Sir?" Jeoj prompted.

I turned to him. "Where do you see yourself in ten years, Jeoj?"

"Sir?" Jeoj was confused.

"What job would you like to have? Where would you like to be? What sort of lifestyle might you make for yourself?"

Jeoj was thunderstruck. The whole concept was new to him. "If I am fortunate, they will keep me here, Sir. Would you like something else sir? I have other duties to attend to."

Plainly he was asking to be dismissed. "Okay. Thank you very much for you help, Jeoj. Dismissed."

He bowed to the floor and quickly scurried from the room.

"Oh, Jeoj?" I said as he was leaving. He turned and bowed to the floor again. "Which crèche was it that you were raised in?"

"Number thirty-five, sir!" He bowed again and fled.

"Wonderful," I growled. The last thing I wanted to clutter this whole situation up with were questions of human rights. But it was too late for that now.

I took off my dress uniform jacket and hung it up. I grinned ruefully at the ribbons and decorations. A few of them were authentic medals commemorating the deeds of my old ship the USS Akagi. The rest were the equivalent of good conduct medals. Each assignment I had been on had a specific ribbon of it's own. The purpose was so that people with bland careers could still cut an impressive figure at diplomatic functions.

Then I sat down at a terminal in our guest quarters and began to do research.

It took a few hours, but I began to notice one thing. The entries on my terminal had been sanitized. The history of Doria III was interesting. There had been an earlier age, the Age of the Accountants.

They started out as floating book keepers, traveling from one warlord's fortress to the other. There they would audit the books and the warlord would then know who had paid their taxes, who hadn't and who was skimming what. Since they were literate and could do the math, occasionally they were able to usurp power from the warlords.

In time, a mixing occurred between blood thirsty warriors and ruthless mathematicians. They became the ruling class of the Accountants.

In time, the populace and the planet began to show the wear and tear of the dictatorships and their rising technology.

Then the Dorians had a reformation. They called it the Great Rectification. The Accountants we deposed, a new, more humane system was imposed and the planet and people rehabilitated.

I knew that I was reading a whitewash since there were very few mentions of any atrocities. Massive social upheavals usually have some atrocities associated with them.

On Earth it had been the Post-Atomic Horror. On Vulcan the age of Surak had seen many followers of the philosophy martyred. On Qo'onos, Kahless defeated all rivals and imposed the Way of the Warrior in a long series of bloody wars.

But the Dorian history spoke of little or none of these.

It was getting late and my eyes were getting heavy from all the reading, when alarms went off. Klaxons announced some disaster in the offing. Metal shutters rolled down over the windows of our quarters.

I went and got my comm-badge and jacket out of the wardrobe as Tillean, Stephanie and McTague came into the main room.

"Report." I said

Stephanie said "I don't know what the alert is for, Captain. There are no signs of any disorder on scans by my tricorder."

Tillean and McTague were equally in the dark.

"Well then, let's go find out." I grabbed my phaser and holster and attached the to my uniform. The other four got their equipment settled and we left the guest quarters.

Jeoj was right outside. "I beg forgiveness, Sirs! The Ambassador requests that you remain in your quarters for the duration of the emergency." He bowed to the floor and held it there.

"Very good Jeoj. Where's the Ambassador?" I said.

"He is in the bunker, Sir!" Jeoj shouted into the carpet.

"On your feet Jeoj, and take us to him."

"But, he said..."

"Noted and logged! Now take us to him!" I barked.

The servant jumped to his feet and scurried down the corridor. I was forced to walk briskly to keep up. The three officers followed me.

Jeoj led us into the bowels of the Palace where thick walls of some sort of reinforced concrete held a huge door made of metal.

There was a panel beside the door. Jeoj scurried up and keyed the panel.

"I beg forgiveness, Sir! The guests request entrance!" Then he bowed to the floor again and stayed there.

The door made several strong sounding clunking noises and rolled open on a motorized track.

The Ambassador peeked out and said "Dismissed" to Jeoj and then waved us in.

The door slid shut and my ears popped. Then several strong sounding clunks came from the door.

"You were asked to stay in your quarters, Captain." The Ambassador sounded irritated.

"I apologize for the inconvenience, Sir. I need to ascertain the nature of the emergency and the possible threat to my ship."

He grunted "I'm certain your ship is in no danger."

We entered a situation room. It had large view screens covering some of the walls. Information was displayed everywhere.

The focus was the Dorian solar system. On several of the situation monitors I could see a representation of another starship heading into the Dorian System at warp two.

I hit my comm-badge. "Hailey to Harrier."

There was no answer. I hit it again. "Hailey to Harrier!"

I looked at the Ambassador. He was looking right at me. "The bunker is shielded. Your signals won't get through."

"I must reach my ship and warn them. Who is that coming?"

"It is the Sixians. I cannot let you contact your ship with out some assurance that you are not in league with them."

"You have me as a hostage. Do you need something else?"

He considered it for a moment. "No, that should be sufficient. However, that requires that if your ship makes a move hostile to us, that I kill you." He made the threat with matter of fact malice.

I looked him in the face. He had me cold and he knew it. "I agree."

He waved to a control panel off on one wall. "That communications system should be able to reach your ship."

I went and opened a channel the Harrier "Hailey to Harrier."

Li'ira's voice came back calm and collected "Captain. It is good to hear from you. We have been trying to raise you for twenty minutes."

I shot a look at the Ambassador. We had been in the bunker for less than five minutes. He shrugged. I guessed it wouldn't have been much of an official palace without some sort of shielding.

"We are all right here. Report your condition." I said

"Queen to Queen's level three." Li'ira said.

I was confused. It was some sort of three dimensional chess move, but I didn't know why she would bring it up now, nor why it would sound familiar. "Harrier, I didn't get that last transmission, please say again?"

"Queen to Queen's level three." Li'ira emphasized.

"Er..." Why was she?... It sounded familiar. Had I heard it before? Where might I have heard it, before? I looked at my officers but they seemed just as confused as I was.

Then it hit me. History! "Queen to King's level one." I responded. I would have to talk with Li'ira about checking codes with me before hand. I almost hadn't remembered Kirk and Spock using that code on Elba II a hundred years ago.

"Thank you Captain! We are in good shape, no change since you left. We have an intruder on the scope, heading inbound at warp two. Estimate eighty minutes until contact. We are monitoring an increased state of readiness in the Dorian Military, and four of their ships have turned and are attempting to intercept the intruder."

"Give me a tactical analysis." I said.

"Working," The line went silent as Li'ira talked to the bridge officers. "Negative Captain, not enough data on the intruder, but Ensign Zuma guesses that the Dorians are outclassed. The intruder has warp drive and they don't."

"Keep me apprized." I ordered. Then I left the communications console and approached the Ambassador.

"Who are the Sixians?" I asked.

The Ambassador sighed bitterly. "They are pirates and raiders. We don't know where they come from, or why they decided to come here. When they first appeared, we thought they might be friends like the Gallowayans or maybe yourself."

"But, they weren't." I prompted.

"They destroyed the ships we sent to meet them. They attacked all three planets that we inhabit in the system. After looting, pillaging and causing wanton destruction on all three they discovered that our mining facilities on the innermost planet refined some sort of rare mineral."

"Ever since then, a Sixian ship will appear every few months to raid our mining colony. They don't raid us often enough to stop our production entirely, but they do cost lives and money every time they appear."

For half an hour we watched the Sixian ship bear down on the Dorian system. A patrol boat was in position to intercept them. As the ranges closed we watched. The impulse powered ships of the Dorians crawled compared even to the weak warp speed of the Sixian raider. But there was one closing.

Then the Dorian ship exploded. There was no reason for it as far as the sensors of the Dorians could determine, but I could read it in the spectrum of the explosion. Gamma rays and all other radiation heavily blue shifted. I guessed a primitive anti-matter torpedo.

"Can we do anything to help?" I asked.

"Yes. Teach us of the faster than light drives and weapons that you possess. With those would could defend ourselves, handily."

"I'm sorry. I can't do that right now..." It was a awful thing to have to say. "Maybe my ship can talk to them and find a peaceful solution?"

He was bitter, but I saw a glimmer of hope. "You are welcome to try."

I went to the communications system "Hailey to Harrier."

"Captain, I have been trying to raise you for ten minutes. The intruder has engaged and destroyed a Dorian patrol boat. They used a warp powered antimatter missile."

"Save it." I said "Intercept and hail the intruder. We are offering the Dorians our protection. Find out what the intruder wants and open negotiations, if possible. If necessary, stop the intruder. Use of force is authorized as per regulations."

Li'ira said "Aye, Sir. Shall we beam you up?"

"No," I said looking at the Ambassador. He looked back meaningfully. "I think you've got it in hand."

"Yes, Captain. Harrier out." Li'ira closed the channel.

I turned to the Ambassador "Can you upload what you know of the Sixians to my ship? Anything you know will be helpful."

The Ambassador said "I will see what I can do." He went off to confer with his

subordinates.

--

Li'ira said "Hail Dorian space control and request permission to break orbit."

Ensign Zuma, now at the tactical station, said "Aye, Sir." A moment later he said "Permission granted, Commander."

Li'ira turned to Ensign Spaat, and said "Set course and engage. Go to warp three as soon as we are clear of Doria III."

"Aye, Sir." Spaat replied as he programmed the instructions into his panel.

As the Harrier began to move, Li'ira said "Time to intercept?"

"Five minutes, thirty three seconds, Sir." Spaat said.

"Go to yellow alert and hail the intruder."

"Aye, sir." Zuma said.

"Analysis?" Li'ira said to Harksain Varupuchu, the third in command.

"I have never encountered anything like this." Varupuchu reported from the science station. He viewed a scan of the intruder.

"I am running a sensor diagnostic, now. Unless I miss my guess the intruder roughly matches the technology of the Andorian Colonial Period or Earth's Romulan War." Varupuchu said.

"Let me know what else you find out." Li'ira said.

"Unknown Ship, Unknown Ship, please respond. This is the Federation starship Harrier. We are on a mission of peaceful contact, please respond." Zuma said into the communications system.

Three minutes passed. "Any response?" Li'ira asked.

"No, Commander." Zuma said

"Tactical analysis."

Varupuchu responded "They have primitive missiles and laser systems. None of this poses any danger to us. I am reading a larger energy cannon of some sort, but I don't have any clear scans of it, yet."

"The Intruder Vessel is primitive. I speculate that they can make Warp 3 or 4 at maximum. Their shields are up, but weak. I have already scanned for shield frequencies and we can now target our phasers against their weak spots. Their shields should be ineffective."

"Sir? Excuse me?" Zuma said, stunned.

"I have already scanned their shield frequencies, Ensign." Varupuchu said dryly.

"That should take longer, even for primitive shields, Sir. Are you positive?" Zuma said.

Varupuchu shot Zuma a disapproving look. "I am quite positive, Ensign. Commander, while the Ensign may have been insubordinate, he is correct. I have rarely seen shields so poorly executed."

Li'ira said "Really? Good! So what's the analysis?"

"The Computer estimates that we should be able to destroy them utterly with no loss of life for the Harrier and a 40 chance of minor damage to the ship."

Li'ira grinned. "Lovely. Thank you Mr. Varupuchu."

"Coming out of warp. Contact in one minute." Spaat reported.

"Open hailing frequencies." Li'ira said.

On the signal from Ensign Zuma she said "This is the Starship Harrier. We seek friendly contact. Please respond."

A face appeared on the view screen. Blocky, yet humanoid. He had a heavy forehead and a lantern jaw. His eyebrows rode on top of ridges of bone, and his teeth appeared too large for his jaw. He looked like an old stereotype of a cave man.

"Ooga blungle meengle wok!" He said. A moment later the universal translator achieved lock on and repeated the statement. "This system is ours! Leave or I kill you!"

"I'm sorry, I can't do that." Li'ira sounded reasonable. "May be there's a way to settle this without all the killing?"

"I show you killing if you don't leave!"

"Are you certain that you don't want to discuss this?"

"Yes! What I want is the riches of this system for me and the Sixians! What I want is to see you running or dead! I will do whatever I need to do to get what I want!" The Sixian cut the channel.

"The Sixian has changed course to intercept, Commander." Varupuchu said "Contact in thirty seconds."

"Raise shields. Go to red alert." Li'ira said. The red alert klaxons signaled the Harrier to battle readiness.

"On screen." Li'ira said. The image of the Sixian raider appeared. It was an ugly starship. through the gaps in its shields, the Harrier could scan every deck and nearly every individual on the ship.

The Sixian raider was made out of slabs. The intermix chamber hung off the back of the ship, open to space for cooling and to give the radiation it gave off somewhere else to go. The forward edge of the hull was an armored ram. Laser turrets and missile tubes jutted this way and that.

"I am surprised that it can make warp speed at all." Varupuchu said.

Graphics detailed the long trail of hot radioactive plasma the ship left behind. All starships leave plasma in their wake. It's a side effect of the engines. ut this ship was leaving it's own engine plasma. It was using only a portion of what it generated for power and heaving the rest overboard.

"The intruder is now within weapons range for long range fire." Zuma said

"Hold your fire, Ensign Zuma." Li'ira said.

"Missiles arming commander." Varupuchu could see the antimatter travel across the ship to the missile pods, on his sensors.

"Jam their sensors, Mr. Varupuchu." Li'ira ordered. Varupuchu made the proper adjustments and then hit a button.

"Their sensors are jammed, Commander." He reported.

The Sixian fired his missiles. They left the tube and streaked off in random directions. Most of them locked onto the Dorian sun, but two locked onto other missiles. There was a merry chase, ending when one of the missiles caught its target missile and detonated with enough force to eliminate the whole salvo.

The Sixian ship kept closing.

"Evasive" Li'ira ordered

Spaat threw the Harrier into a complicated loop to evade the Sixian ship. He need not have bothered. The Sixian ship kept bearing down on the position where the Harrier had been.

"Bring us along side." Li'ira ordered.

"Drop sensor jamming and hail them." Li'ira said.

The cave man appeared again "What!?" He demanded.

"We have been hit by laser fire, Commander. No damage, no weakening of our shields." Zuma reported.

Li'ira nodded and turned to the Sixian. "Your weapons can not harm us. Our weapons are superior. Are you sure you don't want to discuss it?" Li'ira asked

"Save us all time and drop dead!" The Sixian howled and cut the channel.

"Nice guys," Li'ira said.

"They have increased power to laser cannons. They are overheating now. One of them has exploded." Zuma reported.

"The intruder is coming about." Varupuchu warned. "They are charging their cannon."

"Evasive." Li'ira said.

Spaat again threw the Harrier into a spin designed to fool fire prediction computers.

"They have fired." Zuma reported "It was some kind of phaser cannon. Very primitive. It would have struck us like one of our phaser banks set on twenty percent power."

Li'ira said "Could that have penetrated our shields?"

"No, Commander."

"They are recharging. Estimate another shot in five minutes" Varupuchu said.

"Bring us up on their tail. Arm phasers. ready for a broad focus firing pattern. I want to damage their shields more than their ship."

The Harrier came about and smoothly glided up to the rear of the Sixian ship. The Sixian ship began to thrust violently from one side to the other in an attempt to lose the Harrier. It was unsuccessful.

"Phasers ready, Commander." Zuma said

"Fire." Li'ira said

The phasers of the Harrier lashed out against the Sixian shields. There was a fireworks display as the phasers played all over the facing side of the Sixians ship. The Sixian ship shuddered and stopped flinging itself from side to side, suddenly.

"They are coming about." Spaat reported.

"They are firing lasers at overload levels. No damage." Zuma said

"They are about ready to fire their phaser cannon again." Varupuchu added.

"Tactical, tune phasers for best effect against the Sixian shields. Target weapons, including that phaser cannon, and fire to disable them." Li'ira said

"Aye, Commander." Zuma made the adjustments quickly.

The Sixian ship fired its phaser cannon, also overloading the amount of energy put into it.

The Harrier bucked and rocked slightly. "We've been hit. Our forward shield has been slightly weakened. No other damage." Varupuchu said.

"Phasers ready, Commander." Zuma said

"Fire."

The phasers of the Harrier, tied to the sensors and the computers fired a rapid set of pulses. All over the Sixian ship tubes and turrets began to explode. The phasers of the Harrier went through the shields of the Sixian ship as though they did not exist. The Sixian ship lurched and tried to dodge the incoming fire, but it was far too late. One more burst tunneled into the hull of the Sixian ship and chewed into the phaser cannon. Soon the cannon was out of action.

The Sixian ship had been totally disarmed.

"Hail them again." Li'ira said.

The cave man came back on the screen.

"Now we're going to talk." Li'ira said

"Talk while you still can, Dorian! Now that we have found an enemy worth our mettle, the whole might of the Sixian Empire will descend upon you! No matter how many terror ships you now have, our dreadnoughts will defeat them! Our fire will rain down from your skies! Your oceans will run pink with your blood! Our deaths will be avenged! No Dorian shall survive!" The Sixian was shouting and spittle flew from his mouth.

"Who said anything about killing you?" Li'ira said mildly.

"What!?" The Sixian seemed to enjoy shouting.

"We want you to leave the Dorians in peace." Li'ira said patiently.

"Err..." the Sixian got a sneaky look on his face "Okay!"

"I'm sorry?" Li'ira couldn't believe her eyes.

"We won't shoot any more Dorians! None at all! Can we leave now?!" The Sixian was trying his best to look innocent and failing miserably.

"If you promise not to hurt anyone, you may leave." Li'ira said. The bridge crew of the Harrier exchanged incredulous looks as, in the background, a male Sixian voice began to guffaw.

"Oh, we won't! We promise!" The lead Sixian said, while other Sixians struggled to keep their laughter silent in the background.

"Okay. Off you go, then." Li'ira waved vaguely out of the Doria system.

"Eternal Peace!" The grinning Sixian shouted on the screen. The laughter was louder now. "Eternal friendship between us and the Dorians!" He cut off the channel as the laughter broke loose.

The Harrier escorted the Sixian Raider for a short distance. Then the raider went to Warp three and was out of the Dorian System in less than two hours.

The Harrier returned to orbit around Doria III and Li'ira made her report.

--

I watched the report back aboard the Harrier, in the briefing room.

"Uh oh." Was my first comment.

"What I'll be wanting to know is how a bunch of sixth graders got ahold of starships." McTague said.

"Well, here's my dilemma. We can either stay here and be the Dorian defense force, or we can violate the Prime Directive and give the Dorians enough technology to even up the gap." I said.

Li'ira said "What your preference?"

"Number three." I said.

"Number three?" Tillean said.

"Number three is the brilliant idea that we come up with to settle the problem without doing either of the first two things."

--

Back on Doria III I reported the basics to the Ambassador.

"Lovely. Do you think they'll return to get revenge?" He said. I could see Sixian dreadnoughts dancing in his head. He didn't like the idea.

"I won't leave you in a lurch." I said I figured that it was my fault that the Sixians had been antagonized. I wasn't going to leave the Dorians holding the bag.

"Thank you." The Ambassador said. "I hope you will tell His Majesty, when you are presented to him."

"When is that to be?"

"Tomorrow evening."

It's a date," I agreed "Now there's a few things about your planet that I'd like to see."

The Ambassador grinned. Doria III was a pretty planet, and he figured that sight seeing should be easy enough to handle. He wasn't grinning after I told him what I wanted to see.

--

Creche number thirty-five was a huge, low sprawl of a complex. It looked like a huge school to me. There was a huge field where children ran and played. They ranged from groups about two and a half feet tall to ones the size of adults. Adult Dorians were scattered among them, supervising. There were several hundred individuals at Creche number thirty-five.

We pulled up in the official motorcade. I had argued the necessity, but the Ambassador had insisted. He had also insisted on coming with us.

As we got out of the motorcade, whistles sounded among the adults of Creche number thirty-five. As soon as they heard the whistle, the children and many of the adults bowed to the ground and held it. Even the two foot toddlers were made to bow, although their form was rather haphazard.

I caught Tillean's eyes. She was scanning the crowd with slitted eyes, and the blood drained from her face.

Stephanie and McTague looked stunned.

One of the adults who remained standing came over to us and warmly greeted the Ambassador.

"Ambassador! To what do we owe the pleasure?" He asked brightly, oblivious to several hundred people with their faces in the dirt.

"Well, our honored guests wanted to take a tour of your facility, and review the excellent work you do here." The Ambassador dropped compliments wholesale.

"Well then," The man turned to us "I am Headmaster Gringle, welcome to Creche' number thirty-five." He stepped forward to shake our hands.

I shook his hand and made the right noises by rote. McTague followed my cue and was polite although he sounded hoarse. Stephanie caught his eye, and was very serious. Tillean refused to touch him, stepping away with her eyes still locked on all the prostrate children.

He turned around and shouted to another standing adult "I think that's sufficient, sound the release!"

The whistles and bells made another signal and everyone got up and moved away slowly, back into their own cliques and business. The two footers all watched us with big eyes.

We were whisked through a tour of Creche number thirty-five, courtesy of Headmaster Gringle, the genial, affable slave master.

The creche was clean and modern, like a friendly boarding school. The teaching equipment was all in excellent condition, and modern. We watched a group of adolescents going through a shop class, training to fix cars and machines by rote.

There was no writing or reading anywhere. The schools were taught by teachers with computer terminals that had color coding. The Students answered question with colors. They asked none of their own.

There was nothing but a momentary snapshot of time. There was no yesterday, there was no tomorrow. We watched a soap opera that featured happy servants and their lives and loves. They never questioned their status or the orders of the ruling class.

--

We got back into the motorcade. Soon we were settled and the motorcade started off on its return trip to the Diplomatic Palace. As soon as we were moving, Tillean put her head in her lap and cried, disconsolately.

Nobody looked too happy, not even the Ambassador.

"Okay, now tell me the truth." I said to him.

"We have told you the truth, as far as it goes." He said. I got a chill.

"The fact is that the social system imposed during the Great Rectification was based on slavery. Not slavery of one man by another, but a cleaner style where slaves are a resource belonging to the people as a whole. The state is charged with assuring their well being and that they serve appropriately."

"It began during the time of the Accountants. They had huge armies of slaves. Hundred of thousands were worked to death or tortured, or killed for the amusement of the Accountants."

"During the Great Rectification, A genius arose, named Nam. He lead the slaves to freedom and then established our current system."

Tillean looked up. "You're advanced enough now not to need slaves. Why do you still keep them?"

"The adjustment to a non-slave economy would be too wrenching. The whole system has evolved around this basic facet. We would have to change everything, all at once. It would be too difficult. Besides, what would all the slaves do with themselves once they were freed?"

"How do you decide who is a slave and who isn't?" I asked "What's the criteria, there?"

"Well, the current servant class are the survivors of the old ruling class."

"And the old lower classes?"

"We live a freer life style, with education provided by the state. There many jobs for administrators, scientists, Law Enforcement, Military Officers and so on."

"But the Servant class?"

"They are assigned by their aptitudes, when possible. We try to make sure they lack for nothing."

"What happens when a member of the slave class grows dissatisfied?" I asked "What happens when they resist?"

"Once dissatisfaction sets in there is no hope for the individual. He will never be happy with his lot again. In order to keep this malaise from spreading, from infecting others, the dissatisfied individual is quickly, quietly and painlessly eliminated."

"Because of the questions you asked of Jeoj, He became dissatisfied, and I had to have him put down, last night."

I thought that I was going to puke. Tillean waited a few moments and then did so.

"Our system has worked and provided an adequate standard of living for hundreds of years." The Ambassador seemed to be getting annoyed. "Say what you will, it works."

"Our way is sufficient for us." All of his geniality was gone. "And according to your Prime Directive that should be enough for you."

--

That night I spent aboard the Harrier. So did Tillean, McTague and Stephanie. I think they slept. I didn't. I had a rough decision to make.

I studied the scans of the Sixian ship. It was an ugly thing. I was surprised that anyone had voluntarily built and flown it.

But it would do the trick to splatter the more competent, yet less advanced designs of the Dorians, wouldn't it?

I hadn't gotten my number three idea yet, and now I doubted that I would. My choice was down to giving the Dorians technology or letting them get splattered.

I thought of The Ambassador, Jeoj, and Headmaster Gringle, and made up my mind.

Then I thought of Salby the historian, the serving woman who looked at me funny for saying thank you, and all the little two footers and their big eyes and unmade it again.

The Sixian ship spun on the monitor in front of me.

--

"Your Highness, Nam the Fourteenth, the duly elected King of Doria, may I present the crew of the Starship Harrier, from the distant United Federation of Planets."

There were four of us again, but Tillean had been replaced by Harksain Varupuchu. Tillean had refused to set foot on the planet again, and I didn't blame her.

"Presenting the Captain of the Harrier and the Representative Extraordinary for the United Federation of Planets, Jay Patrick Hailey."

I stepped forward and came to attention in front of the King. Except that he ruled over a pleasant hell, he seemed like someone's grandfather. He seemed totally out of place on the throne. Starfleet Protocol says here that you "Make an appropriate gesture of greetings/respect". Most Captains borrow the Japanese bow. I was about to bow when the implications occurred to me. I stopped and went with the next thing in my mind, the Marine salute. I held my arm straight out to the side of my body and brought the hand back at sharp angle until the fingers of my straight hand barely touched my eyebrow. I held it for three beats and the King nodded pleasantly. I brought my hand down and stepped aside, as per the protocol instructions from the Ambassador.

Stephanie used my salute, but McTague and Varupuchu instead used the Vulcan greeting, hand up palm out, Fingers spread in the characteristic "V" shape. They bid the King to "Live Long and Prosper" and he smiled pleasantly at them and nodded.

Later we milled about making strained small talk.

"It's only a matter of time, you know." Salby said.

I jumped and turned to face him. "A matter of time until what?" I said. It was hard to get enthusiasm up about anything.

He nodded to the servant woman passing out drinks and refreshments. It was the same one from the diplomatic reception two nights ago.

"Until she and her brothers kill us all and stick our heads on pikes in front of these palaces." He grinned merrily.

I looked carefully at him. He didn't seem mad on the surface. "That doesn't seem like any fun."

He said "Oh I have no doubt it will be a very unpleasant experience, but it's inevitable. I know. It's all in the history."

I sighed "It doesn't have to be that way."

"Oh, I know that, too. I thought that this might be the case, until I read the information about your Federation. Now I know."

"So now what?"

"Oh, nothing. One man can't make changes that big, even he was the King. But now I know. If I tell two people, then two people will know. If they tell two people and so on, everyone would know in a short amount of time. The problem is that most of these people don't want to know."

He turned and squinted around the reception.

"Come with me. There's someone I'd like you to meet." He grabbed my arm and started to drag me off.

I caught Stephanie's eye just as she was about to take the elderly historian down. I waved her off. I wanted to see who else knew these things now.

We left the diplomatic party through a generic service door. We wandered a short distance down some perfectly prosaic corridors until we came to an office.

It was a fairly large office. I imagined that a member of the ruling class sat there and made heavy decisions about how much of what gourmet food to lay in for the guests of the palace. Then the servants left to fetch it and carry it in.

To my utter surprise Nam the Fourteenth came in and began to hang his rainments up in a utility closet.

"Good evening, Salby. Have you been haranguing the Captain with your tales of doom and gloom?" He said.

I came to attention and put my juice quickly down on the desk.

"Oh, knock it off." Nam the Fourteenth said tiredly, "Save it for the rubes."

"Nam, have you read those parts of the Federations' packet I outlined?" Salby said excitedly.

"Who's had the time? I bet they confirmed your views, though."

"Yes, indeedy!" Salby cackled.

"I had a chance to scan them briefly." He turned to me. "Now tell the truth, these weren't the whole story, were they?"

"Well, no, things aren't always as cut and dried as the examples they choose for that piece."

"Hee hee! I thought so!" Salby cackled again.

"Then we'll take it with a grain of salt, won't we?" The King came up to me and squinted in my face.

"Does that redness around your eyes mean what I think it does?" He asked.

"What's that?" I responded.

"You've had a long night." He said.

"Yes, yes I have."

"Quite a pickle you've arranged for yourself!" Salby said. "You pledge yourself to protect people you can't stand."

Nam shook his head "Now you can't stay, and you can't go."

I sat down heavily on the sofa in the king's office. "So now what do I do?"

"Well first, you download accurate accounts of your Federation to us!" Salby jumped in.

Nam shot Salby an amused look and then explained "The accurate information about the histories of the worlds in your Federation may help us convince a certain number of people that our system is not the only successful social structure. Once the knowledge that there is another way to do things becomes more wide spread, maybe the desire to change things will, too."

"Secondly," Nam said "My intelligence service speculates that the Sixians may have a base not too far from our system. We can roughly measure their speed and they can't get to any nearby stars in the time they take between raids."

"If you make a little stop by that base..." Nam led

"And impress 'em with your diplomatic prowess!" Salby hooted.

"Then the brunt of their anger might follow you, and not us." Nam finished.

"Yes, Sir." I took the suggestion.

--

We signed a completely bland treaty with the Dorian Ambassador. He needed it to cover his ass with the Dorian people. We had a very public signing. Then the crew of the Harrier got a layover in a nature preserve. I didn't know how long it was going to be before we got to see real sky, walk on real dirt, or breathe real air again.

We camped out at least three hundred miles from the nearest Dorian natives, and, over all, it was a fun camping trip.

Tillean didn't go. She never again set foot on Doria III.

I went down on the last afternoon and made of point of walking barefoot in the nearby stream. It was cold!

Most of the rest of these three days I spent compiling more honest information for Salby, and Nam, so they could know for certain.

I also salved my conscience for bringing down the wrath of the Sixians by sending them the complete scan data of the Sixian raider.

This amounted to a complete blueprint for the ship. It would take them a while to be able to duplicate it, and longer to develop a more sane design, but it was better than leaving them totally uncovered.

I rationalized that they would only have to shoot down and recover the wreckage of five or six Sixian ships in order to puzzle out most of this information.

Never mind that it was unlikely to recover even one intact. It was a wonder that they maintained antimatter containment as a usual thing, let alone in battle. I could not find a hint of an ejection system for the antimatter storage pod. Lose containment and there goes the ship, and probably everyone on it.

The simple fact is that I gave them technology that they wouldn't have otherwise. A clear violation of the Prime Directive.

I did it by myself. There was only a skeleton crew on board the Harrier. I used my command codes to over ride the communications system and uploaded the information manually, from isolinear chips.

I felt as thought any Sixian counter attacks would be my fault, and I had to try to make it better.

--

We had passed the Sixian raider a short distance outside the Dorian system. He was only making warp three and at that rate it would take him weeks or months to make it anywhere. Our long range sensors were orders of magnitude better than his, so we were able to shadow him and record his precise heading.

At warp six we made it to the Sixian starbase that afternoon. It was less than a light year from the Dorian system. Varupuchu was livid at having missed it.

The Sixians weren't mentioned in any of the information we had gotten from the Gallowayans, so I suppose we had taken for granted that there was nothing there that they didn't know of.

We trundled right up to the Sixian starbase, and hailed it as bold as brass.

There were five large starships docked to the starbase they were bigger and heavier than the Harrier, but they were simply bigger versions of the small raider ship that we had defeated earlier. They were frightening on a whole different level.

--

"I am Captain Hailey, commanding the Federation starship Harrier. We are on a peaceful mission of exploration. We wish friendly contact. Will you speak with us?"

The cave man like Sixian on the screen was, evidently the starbase commander, since he was older, going gray, and had numerous scars.

It took him a while to sort out what I had said. Varupuchu and Spaat poured over the sensors, gathering data about the Sixians.

"Uh... Sure! We be friends!" He grinned broadly showing all the teeth he had left. "Surrender now, and we be good friends."

"Ah, no, we really wouldn't like that." I said "Maybe we could just talk like this for a while, until we learn more about each other."

"No, Really! It be okay! C'mon over." His grin was greedy and feral.

"Where is your Home world?" I asked. I caught Stephanie waving at me. She stayed out of pickup range while signaling that the Sixians were manning their dreadnoughts.

"We not tell you! You not attack us!"

"No, no no!" I had to fight to keep the grin off my face "We not attack you, we just want to be friends."

"Err. Come to me and I tell you!" Said the base commander.

"No" I grinned. I couldn't help it the Sixians were worse than the Pakleds. Keeping a straight face was just too hard for me. "I not go to you."

The base commanders' face screwed up in a scowl. It took him two and half beats to get it. "YOU MAKE FUN OF US!!" He bellowed, and his rage was terrible to behold. He looked truly dangerous. But he was stuck with a group of crappy, death trap starships.

I whooped. I couldn't help it. Laughing, I gasped "No, really..." But there was no stopping him now

"I KILL YOU!!" The Base Commander raged "I EAT YOU HEART!!"

Stephanie mercifully cut contact at that point.

Wiping tears from eyes, I said "Status of the Sixian ships?"

Varupuchu's tone was brittle as he said "There are four operational starship in that cluster. The fifth is not complete, and won't be for some weeks. They are now powering up as quickly as possible."

"I wonder why?" I said rhetorically. "Helm, One quarter impulse along heading 270 mark 15, engage."

The Harrier began to crawl away from the Sixian starbase.

"Captain, I have encrypted messages from the Sixian base, they aren't aimed us, but to objects out of our current sensor range." Tillean reported.

Reinforcements? Probably.

"The Sixian ships are moving. Target three is clearing the base. Targets one and two are now clear. Ahem."

I looked to see Varupuchu blinking rapidly. His face seemed a little more blue.

"Target four is out of action, as well as the starbase." He said.

"Really?" I encouraged.

"Target four crashed into the base and has sustained significant hull damage. The base itself is moderately damaged, and they won't be using that bay for quite some time." He took a breath and regained his composure.

The Harrier was forced to go to half impulse to stay ahead of the Sixian dreadnoughts. They boosted on raw drive plasma, spewed out behind them like rocket exhaust. They were quite serious about getting the Harrier too, because they cranked up the temperature of their drive plasma too high and irradiated themselves doing it.

Two of the Sixians prepared to go to warp. I bet that they would try a short warp burst to get ahead of us, and then go sublight to cut us off and engage us.

I took the Harrier to warp one as they were about to engage their warp drives.

The speed was a slow crawl. I doubted that we had actually flown the Harrier for any great amount of time at warp one until that point.

Soon all three dreadnoughts were making warp two and were about to get within range to launch their warp speed antimatter missiles at us.

I took us to warp two. The Sixians held warp two and then went to warp three.

Just as we went to warp three to keep the chase going, we sighted two new Sixian dreadnoughts on a heading to cut us off. It would have taken a couple of hours for the formation to form up.

I ordered the Harrier to warp three point five. It was an odd number and a strain on our engines, but not too bad, and I wanted to see what the Sixians would do.

The four Sixian dreadnoughts behind us tried to match our speed. They varied up and down between warp three point two to warp three point seven. They simply could not hold a steady speed.

Varupuchu called me over to his station. "Captain, I think you should see this." I went and looked. I have never seen warp fields doing that before, and Ghod willing, I will not again.

The warp fields of the Sixian ships were writhing like love sick amoebas. Their warp fields were not too hot to start out with, but they were on the verge of starting a wormhole, or imploding their ships. Their engine nacelles were glowing with visible light, they were so overheated.

It looked as though we were moments away from baiting them into an accident. The antimatter detonation, if one of those nightmare ships lost containment, could damage the Harrier, even if all their intentional efforts could not.

"Go to warp six, please Ensign Spaat." I ordered in as calm a voice as I could muster.

The Harrier leapt ahead of the Sixian pursuers and soon left their sensor ranges.

None of the Sixians ships actually detonated, but they all lost warp capability soon after we left.

--

Later Spaat and Varupuchu came to an interesting conclusion. Using the excellent scans of individual Sixians they were able to gather, they came to the conclusion that the Sixians were an artificial race. Their explanation sounded good as far as I could follow it. Tillean and Dr. Flynn independently confirmed their results later.

The Sixians were an artifact of an advanced and callous race. Had they been abandoned to rise back to star flight on their own? It would take someone other than me to figure it out.

--

After wards we set course for that last planet on the Gallowayan trade route towards home. It was called Gerard's World.

-End-

Data File: The Dorians

by Dennnis Washburn and Jay P. Hailey

Location:

The Dorian System is located 1,279 light years away from the Federation border inside the Gallowayan sphere of influence.

Geography:

The Dorian System has three planets of note. The third planet is the Dorian home world, a class M planet rehabilitated following ecological abuse. It is a normal class "M" world with many varying climates and geographical types.

The second planet in the Dorian System is also class "M". It is a hotter and wetter world, mostly of swamps or desert habitats. There are many life forms on Doria II which are related to Dorian III species, although they have been skillfully altered to live happily in the different climate of Doria II. Some evidence points to a conclusion that Doria II was skillfully terraformed. This is beyond the current capabilities of the Dorians.

The last relevant feature of the Doria System is the innermost planet, Doria I. It is the basis for the economy of the Doria system. Doria I is packed full of useful minerals

People:

The Dorians are humanoids, with fluted nose channels and segmented foreheads. This is related though their sense of smell which is better developed than a Terran Human's, about on a par with that of a Klingon's.

The Dorians are generally gregarious and friendly. They are easy going and xenophobia is almost unknown to them. They can be vicious when provoked.

Government Types:

The Dorian government is an constitutional monarchy. When a king begins to age, or perceives that death is near, then he nominates a successor who is confirmed by public hearings followed by a popular vote of the members of the ruling class.

The ruling class provides all ministers and supervisors who rule by fiat in the name of the king.

The social system is a socialism with the state being the sole employer and seller of goods.

Economy:

The Economy of the Dorian system is powered by the mineral wealth of the inner most planet of the Dorian system. Internally, the Dorians spend a lot of energy maintaining an ecologically sound yet abundant standard of living.

Military:

The Dorians have a military composed of thousands of Servant Class ground troops and enlisted personnel, lead by an elite corps of Ruling Class officers. Due to the dangers inherent in arming the servant class, most of the soldiery is kept in an unarmed reserve status.

The Dorian space fleet is limited to laser and missile armed, sub light speed impulse powered boats. Soon they may take advantage of captured Sixian warp drive technology, making them a force in the sector.

History:

The most powerful event in Dorian history was the age of the Accountants and the rise of Nam, the Liberator followed by the Great Rectification.

The Age of Accountants was brutal totalitarianism, where warlords ruled callously, wasting resources avidly, and damaging the planet, it's environment and ecology with no thought of the future.

When the Accountants were deposed, the new Ruling Class, led by Nam took it as their sacred duty to preserve society, and restore the planet. They installed some draconian measures to do so. The worst of these was the casting of the old Ruling Class as the new slaves of society.

The new Servant Class was ruthless oppressed with the best of intentions for society as a whole the end goal.

Doria III was eventually rehabilitated by the manual labor of generations of servant class menials.

The Gallowayans contacted the Dorians, but due to their distaste for slavery, the relationship remained limited.

The Sixians contacted the Dorians and immediately began to raid and pillage them.

The Federation starship Harrier contacted the Dorians in early 2368, and signed a non-aggression treaty, and made some steps towards opening contact between the UFP and the Dorians.

Later in 2368, the Dorians began to take advantage of captured Sixian technology to rebuild their military to fend off the Sixian raids.

Culture:

The Dorian Culture seems idyllic and smooth at first glance. It rides on the division between the Ruling Class and the Servant Class.

Members of the Ruling Class have the full potential of their civilization available, full education is the rule, and all careers are open and begging for new practitioners.

Members of the Servant Class are not allowed to be literate, or to change jobs except as determined by the ruling class. They are bred and raised in huge creches, and are taught to live lives of unquestioning obedience. If any member of the servant class becomes dissatisfied or questions his role in life, he is quickly and efficiently killed, and his body disposed of quietly.

Although this system is inhumane it is efficient, and Doria remain a nice planet to visit, assuming you have no compassion for the hapless Servant Class.

-End-


	8. Chapter 8

REP: Star Trek: Outwardly Mobile (OCC - TNG era) 06 - The Dorians and the Sixians, PG 1/1

Title: Star Trek: Outwardly Mobile 06 - The Dorians and the Sixians

Author: Jay P Hailey ST-OM, OCC - TNG era 06/54?

Rating:PG

Archive: Fine with me, just tell me where.

Disclaimer: Paramount owns all things Star Trek. I claim Original Characters and Situations for me.

Webpage HTTP://jayphailey. Trek: Outwardly Mobile

Episode 06: The Dorians and the Sixians

(Stardate 45105)

By

Dennnis Washburn

and

Jay P. Hailey

We were a month into our journey and the diplomatic reception was going very well.

The reception was being held in the hall of an ancient palace. The ceiling was twenty feet over our heads and I could see intricate paintings on it. Baroque moldings framed the paintings.

The walls were similarly decorated with intricate designs and art.

A historian was talking to me.

"This was the final palace of the Age of Accountants." He said. It hardly looked like an accountant's idea of cost effective.

"Really? Did the Accountants have many palaces?" I said brightly. I'm sure it was a stupid question, but I was new to Doria III, and stupid sounding questions were all I had.

"Oh, yes." The historian said "Before the Great Rectification the accountants ruled with an iron fist. Opulence among the ruling class was the norm."

"Oh, how fascinating." I said. He seemed to need little encouragement. I understood. History was one of my hobbies, but it was lonely. One rarely met anyone to talk with who understood the value of the subject.

A servant came by us. She was dressed in a fancy costume that reminded me of an Elizabethan Judo practitioner. It was a gi in red and blue silk like material with lace and filigree adorning it. Leggings and a high collar completed the effect. She carried a tray of drinks and refreshments. I took a bland little tofu-like cake and a glass of juice. I had been briefed before the official reception had started and shown what to eat and drink, and what to avoid. I did want to stay sober.

"Thank you." I said as I took the refreshments off her tray. I wished that I had some local currency to tip her. Alien VIPs and a major diplomatic reception can't be an easy job.

She looked at me oddly and continued on her way.

Maybe the Dorians didn't have the custom of tipping. Even though we were all people, in the broadest possible sense, it didn't mean that we all did things the same way.

The Ambassador came over to me and interceded. Maybe he thought he was protecting me from a horribly boring diatribe from the historian. I didn't mind being rescued too much.

"Good evening Captain Hailey!" He said "How are you doing? May I get you anything?"

"No, thank you. Sub-Minister Salby was telling me that this was the last of the palaces of the Accountants."

"The last and the grandest!" He waved his hands expansively. "We keep it this way as an exhibit of our past for the edification of our citizens, and for special diplomatic functions."

"Did you meet the Gallowayans here?" I asked.

"Goodness! I helped sign the final version of our trade agreement at that desk over there." He pointed it out. "They later sent a payment for half the rent of the hall for the duration of the event!" He seemed vastly amused at this.

"The Gallowayans are interesting people." I allowed.

"What did the Gallowayans say about us?" He asked.

Two weeks ago we had met the Gallowayans. They were a trading empire in the area that we found ourselves. Since we were lost and isolated from the UFP, we approached with caution, and found the Gallowayans to be nice folks. They viewed the world in a complex set of value assignments and cost benefit ratios. The results were surprising.

The Gallowayans were guarding a world near the Dorian system. As it turned out they had a version of the Prime Directive. They felt that a premature contact with a primitive world would damage the culture involved. This, they felt, would reduce the value of later trading relationships between future generations of the Gallowayans and the natives. The future carried a heavy value among the Gallowayans.

We had made an agreement with the specific Gallowayan ship we had encountered. This amounted to a contract to conduct future contact and profitable relationships through that ship. Each trading ship of the Gallowayans was an independent financial entity among their culture. In return they had told us of what they knew of the space between us and home.

It wasn't a lot, but it helped.

The nearest planet with which the Gallowayans traded was in the Dorian System. I felt that the Gallowayans were trustworthy in their estimate of the readiness of the Dorians for contact with other races.

I had gained a new understanding of the old phrase "Any port in a storm." The starship Harrier was facing a three to five year journey home through unknown space. I was searching for a friendly place to take a rest, to catch our breath and to get some parts to fix the ship with. Our arrival in this area had used up some critical components of the Harrier. We were using our replacements. I didn't like that. Every trained spaceman likes at least one backup at hand. I liked three if I could get them.

So we went to Doria III and found a hearty welcome waiting for us there. It was almost too good to be true.

Part of the Dorian enthusiasm I understood. The Gallowayan charts said that Doria was a source for minerals of all kinds and a market for low tech goods. As we entered we scanned no subspace activity. There were no warp drives or subspace radios. I almost backed out, but they were ready for visitors.

There were boundary markers and impulse powered patrol ships to greet us. Despite the speed of light delay, they seemed most hospitable. The culmination of this was the diplomatic reception.

I replied to the Ambassador's question. "They said that you were friendly, open and a good source for minerals."

He grinned. The Dorians had fluted nose channels and their foreheads were segmented and enlarged, in the manner of humanoids with advanced senses of smell. The effect of a grin on his face was extreme and catchy. The grin shined through his eyes. I knew why he was the Ambassador. He was hard not to like.

"That's the Gallowayans, always on the bottom line right away." He said merrily. "Tell me more of your United Federation of Planets."

I knew right away that the Dorians were after warp drives of their own and higher technology than the Gallowayans were willing to trade to them. I jollied them along. As allies of the Federation, they would have a remote control relationship with the UFP. A great deal of the way the Federation treated them would have to do with my report and the report of my officers. I didn't want to commit to anything or make any promises that would later backfire.

It was a certainty that the Federation would be a long time in sending a starship out here to double check me.

I answered all the questions the Ambassador put to me, and explained things as well as I could. We had downloaded a packet to the Dorians. It was a collection of public access information about the UFP. It was honest and truthful as far as it went. It was obviously pro-Federation in its bias. It didn't talk about embarrassing incidents or things that hadn't worked out in a simple, cheerful way.

Some Captains added information from other points of view. Many called it a sales brochure and joked about the complimentary T-shirts, mugs and pens to hand out with it.

The Dorians were still plowing through it, and were formulating questions as they went. It would take them a while. It had taken hours to download all the information to them and we strained the limits of their data storage media doing it.

So I struggled with explaining the Prime Directive and gave specific examples of how it had come to be.

"So the Iotians dress in traditional costumes from Earth? And they mimic your traditions?" The Ambassador said. He no doubt thought it quaint.

I thought of the drive by shootings during my visit to the Federation mission to the planet. "Er, their interpretation is, well, unique."

"I don't doubt it." The Ambassador agreed. He was good at that.

I looked for the officers who had accompanied me to the surface of Doria III. There was Tillean Darvon Ahk, my science officer. She was a Vicharrian with delicately upswept ears, white hair, purple eyes, and a lot of enthusiasm for science. She was earnestly waving her hands and making notes on her tricorder, while talking to the Dorian Minister of Science.

Stephanie Anderson, the Harrier's chief of Security loitered coincidentally nearby me and watched everyone who came around me. She was in state of relaxed readiness. We didn't expect anything to happen, but Stephanie knew that was when the jaws of a trap might close. This made her wary. Stephanie didn't fear the threat that she saw and recognized. She feared the one that she didn't see.

Seamus McTague had a group around him. The Harrier's Counselor was an interesting person. He was a large red headed Irishman. He played the stereotypical Irishman like it was a role invented just for him. He was waving a drink around and telling a story. I could see him working the pauses and emphasizing things with his finger. He made lots of eye contact and sold his story for all it was worth.

He appeared drunk, but I wasn't sure. He seemed to have been waving a drink of the same color for some time. His audience found him easy to like. So did I. His personality was catchy.

I looked at my watch. It was time. I went to the window and looked up. Through the glass I could see the sky, and the stars. There were quite a number of artificial stars in orbit around Doria III. They were space stations and factories, moved to orbit to shield the carefully managed and tended ecology of Doria III.

I was no talent at astrogation, but I had passed the basic course. Right on schedule, there was a sparkle as the sunlight glinted off the white hull of a starship. The USS Harrier, passing in standard orbit right over our heads.

She looked good. It seemed as though things were going to work out fine.

--

Later that evening we relaxed in our quarters at the palace. Stephanie scanned with her tricorder and pronounced the room free of bugs.

"Okay, let's hear it." I said.

Tillean started. "They have a reasonably advanced science and technology. They are not up to subspace theory yet, or anything connected with it. But in some ways they are advanced beyond where Earth was when Zefram Cochrane invented Earth's warp drive."

"They are aware that the second planet in the system has been terraformed, but have discovered no clues about who did the work, despite seventy years of exploration of the surface."

"Their social sciences seem more advanced. Their culture seems more stable and peaceful than any world I've seen outside the Federation." Tillean was obviously pleased with what she had found so far.

Stephanie made her report. "I saw no one who posed any threat. They have lasers and certain types of projectile weaponry evident, perhaps sonic weapons. No one seemed interested in harming us, or making a threatening gesture. Their own security is adequate, but not spectacular. It would take a competent assassin or a crazy to get through."

McTague said "They seem a friendly bunch, that they are. A little naive, perhaps. Many of the galactic standard myths or legends in my repertoire seem new to them. They have an expectation of being able to change jobs and learn new things as a general thing. They are used to having servants about. They're happy to meet us, because the Gallowayans have a limited trade program with them, and refuse to expand it any."

That made me nervous. Did the Gallowayans know something that I didn't? Almost certainly. I had no way of knowing what their cost benefit analysis came up with nor how they weighted it.

The only thing that we could do was to keep exploring and learn what we could.

Towards that end I signaled for room service. A servant came to take our orders.

"May I serve you?" He said

"You know that we're from the ship in orbit, right?" I said.

"Really?" He said he seemed excited by the prospect. "You're the aliens?"

"Yes, I suppose we are. Didn't you know who you'd be the room service guy for tonight?"

He seemed perplexed "No, sir. They never tell us things like that."

"What if we had some strange, alien need to fulfill? What if we needed some strange substance to survive?"

He seemed worried "I'm certain that everything you could want or need is stocked in the Palace tonight sir! If not, then I will go and fetch it from wherever it may be." He bowed, nearly to the floor.

"Don't sweat it." I told him, "We came equipped to handle all of our alien needs."

McTague had been taking a swig from a flask that I didn't know he had. He snorted some of the contents of the flask out his nose and had a coughing fit. I shot him a dirty look.

The servant seemed nervous.

"What we need from you is information. What's your name?"

"Jeoj." He seemed even more nervous.

I beckoned to my Science Officer. "Tillean, get this in the tricorder will you?"

She got her tricorder and began to set up for a game of twenty questions.

Stephanie and McTague retired to other rooms in the palatial quarters to change out of the dress uniforms.

"How long have you worked here, Jeoj?" I asked.

"Since I came of age, sir." Jeoj seemed proud of that. I couldn't tell how old he was.

"Are you happy here?"

"Oh, yes sir! This assignment carries much prestige."

"Where did you go to school?"

"School, Sir?"

"Um, where they teach you things?"

"Oh! They do that in the Crèche, Sir."

"You were raised in a crèche'? Why?"

"Well, I was born there, Sir. Hardly fair to ask someone else to do it." He laughed at this. Apparently attempting to relieve the tension.

I grinned mildly at him. "And what did they teach you at the crèche'?"

"Oh, all sorts of stuff, if it pleases you, Sir."

"Please tell me a little about that."

Jeoj then told us of his time in a schooling program designed to create a technically apt servant. We prompted him, and he told us of his early life, happily growing up in some sort of servant class crèche.

"Some sort of class division, evidently." I said to Tillean.

"Yeah." She said grimly. I remembered that personal freedom and prowess were prized in her home culture. This must look especially nasty to her.

"Lieutenant, have you seen any external clues about where the division lies? Color, markings or something?" I asked her.

She got the hint. "No, Sir. I have nothing of the kind. The reason for the division might be contextual."

"Sir?" Jeoj prompted.

I turned to him. "Where do you see yourself in ten years, Jeoj?"

"Sir?" Jeoj was confused.

"What job would you like to have? Where would you like to be? What sort of lifestyle might you make for yourself?"

Jeoj was thunderstruck. The whole concept was new to him. "If I am fortunate, they will keep me here, Sir. Would you like something else sir? I have other duties to attend to."

Plainly he was asking to be dismissed. "Okay. Thank you very much for you help, Jeoj. Dismissed."

He bowed to the floor and quickly scurried from the room.

"Oh, Jeoj?" I said as he was leaving. He turned and bowed to the floor again. "Which crèche was it that you were raised in?"

"Number thirty-five, sir!" He bowed again and fled.

"Wonderful," I growled. The last thing I wanted to clutter this whole situation up with were questions of human rights. But it was too late for that now.

I took off my dress uniform jacket and hung it up. I grinned ruefully at the ribbons and decorations. A few of them were authentic medals commemorating the deeds of my old ship the USS Akagi. The rest were the equivalent of good conduct medals. Each assignment I had been on had a specific ribbon of it's own. The purpose was so that people with bland careers could still cut an impressive figure at diplomatic functions.

Then I sat down at a terminal in our guest quarters and began to do research.

It took a few hours, but I began to notice one thing. The entries on my terminal had been sanitized. The history of Doria III was interesting. There had been an earlier age, the Age of the Accountants.

They started out as floating book keepers, traveling from one warlord's fortress to the other. There they would audit the books and the warlord would then know who had paid their taxes, who hadn't and who was skimming what. Since they were literate and could do the math, occasionally they were able to usurp power from the warlords.

In time, a mixing occurred between blood thirsty warriors and ruthless mathematicians. They became the ruling class of the Accountants.

In time, the populace and the planet began to show the wear and tear of the dictatorships and their rising technology.

Then the Dorians had a reformation. They called it the Great Rectification. The Accountants we deposed, a new, more humane system was imposed and the planet and people rehabilitated.

I knew that I was reading a whitewash since there were very few mentions of any atrocities. Massive social upheavals usually have some atrocities associated with them.

On Earth it had been the Post-Atomic Horror. On Vulcan the age of Surak had seen many followers of the philosophy martyred. On Qo'onos, Kahless defeated all rivals and imposed the Way of the Warrior in a long series of bloody wars.

But the Dorian history spoke of little or none of these.

It was getting late and my eyes were getting heavy from all the reading, when alarms went off. Klaxons announced some disaster in the offing. Metal shutters rolled down over the windows of our quarters.

I went and got my comm-badge and jacket out of the wardrobe as Tillean, Stephanie and McTague came into the main room.

"Report." I said

Stephanie said "I don't know what the alert is for, Captain. There are no signs of any disorder on scans by my tricorder."

Tillean and McTague were equally in the dark.

"Well then, let's go find out." I grabbed my phaser and holster and attached the to my uniform. The other four got their equipment settled and we left the guest quarters.

Jeoj was right outside. "I beg forgiveness, Sirs! The Ambassador requests that you remain in your quarters for the duration of the emergency." He bowed to the floor and held it there.

"Very good Jeoj. Where's the Ambassador?" I said.

"He is in the bunker, Sir!" Jeoj shouted into the carpet.

"On your feet Jeoj, and take us to him."

"But, he said..."

"Noted and logged! Now take us to him!" I barked.

The servant jumped to his feet and scurried down the corridor. I was forced to walk briskly to keep up. The three officers followed me.

Jeoj led us into the bowels of the Palace where thick walls of some sort of reinforced concrete held a huge door made of metal.

There was a panel beside the door. Jeoj scurried up and keyed the panel.

"I beg forgiveness, Sir! The guests request entrance!" Then he bowed to the floor again and stayed there.

The door made several strong sounding clunking noises and rolled open on a motorized track.

The Ambassador peeked out and said "Dismissed" to Jeoj and then waved us in.

The door slid shut and my ears popped. Then several strong sounding clunks came from the door.

"You were asked to stay in your quarters, Captain." The Ambassador sounded irritated.

"I apologize for the inconvenience, Sir. I need to ascertain the nature of the emergency and the possible threat to my ship."

He grunted "I'm certain your ship is in no danger."

We entered a situation room. It had large view screens covering some of the walls. Information was displayed everywhere.

The focus was the Dorian solar system. On several of the situation monitors I could see a representation of another starship heading into the Dorian System at warp two.

I hit my comm-badge. "Hailey to Harrier."

There was no answer. I hit it again. "Hailey to Harrier!"

I looked at the Ambassador. He was looking right at me. "The bunker is shielded. Your signals won't get through."

"I must reach my ship and warn them. Who is that coming?"

"It is the Sixians. I cannot let you contact your ship with out some assurance that you are not in league with them."

"You have me as a hostage. Do you need something else?"

He considered it for a moment. "No, that should be sufficient. However, that requires that if your ship makes a move hostile to us, that I kill you." He made the threat with matter of fact malice.

I looked him in the face. He had me cold and he knew it. "I agree."

He waved to a control panel off on one wall. "That communications system should be able to reach your ship."

I went and opened a channel the Harrier "Hailey to Harrier."

Li'ira's voice came back calm and collected "Captain. It is good to hear from you. We have been trying to raise you for twenty minutes."

I shot a look at the Ambassador. We had been in the bunker for less than five minutes. He shrugged. I guessed it wouldn't have been much of an official palace without some sort of shielding.

"We are all right here. Report your condition." I said

"Queen to Queen's level three." Li'ira said.

I was confused. It was some sort of three dimensional chess move, but I didn't know why she would bring it up now, nor why it would sound familiar. "Harrier, I didn't get that last transmission, please say again?"

"Queen to Queen's level three." Li'ira emphasized.

"Er..." Why was she?... It sounded familiar. Had I heard it before? Where might I have heard it, before? I looked at my officers but they seemed just as confused as I was.

Then it hit me. History! "Queen to King's level one." I responded. I would have to talk with Li'ira about checking codes with me before hand. I almost hadn't remembered Kirk and Spock using that code on Elba II a hundred years ago.

"Thank you Captain! We are in good shape, no change since you left. We have an intruder on the scope, heading inbound at warp two. Estimate eighty minutes until contact. We are monitoring an increased state of readiness in the Dorian Military, and four of their ships have turned and are attempting to intercept the intruder."

"Give me a tactical analysis." I said.

"Working," The line went silent as Li'ira talked to the bridge officers. "Negative Captain, not enough data on the intruder, but Ensign Zuma guesses that the Dorians are outclassed. The intruder has warp drive and they don't."

"Keep me apprized." I ordered. Then I left the communications console and approached the Ambassador.

"Who are the Sixians?" I asked.

The Ambassador sighed bitterly. "They are pirates and raiders. We don't know where they come from, or why they decided to come here. When they first appeared, we thought they might be friends like the Gallowayans or maybe yourself."

"But, they weren't." I prompted.

"They destroyed the ships we sent to meet them. They attacked all three planets that we inhabit in the system. After looting, pillaging and causing wanton destruction on all three they discovered that our mining facilities on the innermost planet refined some sort of rare mineral."

"Ever since then, a Sixian ship will appear every few months to raid our mining colony. They don't raid us often enough to stop our production entirely, but they do cost lives and money every time they appear."

For half an hour we watched the Sixian ship bear down on the Dorian system. A patrol boat was in position to intercept them. As the ranges closed we watched. The impulse powered ships of the Dorians crawled compared even to the weak warp speed of the Sixian raider. But there was one closing.

Then the Dorian ship exploded. There was no reason for it as far as the sensors of the Dorians could determine, but I could read it in the spectrum of the explosion. Gamma rays and all other radiation heavily blue shifted. I guessed a primitive anti-matter torpedo.

"Can we do anything to help?" I asked.

"Yes. Teach us of the faster than light drives and weapons that you possess. With those would could defend ourselves, handily."

"I'm sorry. I can't do that right now..." It was a awful thing to have to say. "Maybe my ship can talk to them and find a peaceful solution?"

He was bitter, but I saw a glimmer of hope. "You are welcome to try."

I went to the communications system "Hailey to Harrier."

"Captain, I have been trying to raise you for ten minutes. The intruder has engaged and destroyed a Dorian patrol boat. They used a warp powered antimatter missile."

"Save it." I said "Intercept and hail the intruder. We are offering the Dorians our protection. Find out what the intruder wants and open negotiations, if possible. If necessary, stop the intruder. Use of force is authorized as per regulations."

Li'ira said "Aye, Sir. Shall we beam you up?"

"No," I said looking at the Ambassador. He looked back meaningfully. "I think you've got it in hand."

"Yes, Captain. Harrier out." Li'ira closed the channel.

I turned to the Ambassador "Can you upload what you know of the Sixians to my ship? Anything you know will be helpful."

The Ambassador said "I will see what I can do." He went off to confer with his

subordinates.

--

Li'ira said "Hail Dorian space control and request permission to break orbit."

Ensign Zuma, now at the tactical station, said "Aye, Sir." A moment later he said "Permission granted, Commander."

Li'ira turned to Ensign Spaat, and said "Set course and engage. Go to warp three as soon as we are clear of Doria III."

"Aye, Sir." Spaat replied as he programmed the instructions into his panel.

As the Harrier began to move, Li'ira said "Time to intercept?"

"Five minutes, thirty three seconds, Sir." Spaat said.

"Go to yellow alert and hail the intruder."

"Aye, sir." Zuma said.

"Analysis?" Li'ira said to Harksain Varupuchu, the third in command.

"I have never encountered anything like this." Varupuchu reported from the science station. He viewed a scan of the intruder.

"I am running a sensor diagnostic, now. Unless I miss my guess the intruder roughly matches the technology of the Andorian Colonial Period or Earth's Romulan War." Varupuchu said.

"Let me know what else you find out." Li'ira said.

"Unknown Ship, Unknown Ship, please respond. This is the Federation starship Harrier. We are on a mission of peaceful contact, please respond." Zuma said into the communications system.

Three minutes passed. "Any response?" Li'ira asked.

"No, Commander." Zuma said

"Tactical analysis."

Varupuchu responded "They have primitive missiles and laser systems. None of this poses any danger to us. I am reading a larger energy cannon of some sort, but I don't have any clear scans of it, yet."

"The Intruder Vessel is primitive. I speculate that they can make Warp 3 or 4 at maximum. Their shields are up, but weak. I have already scanned for shield frequencies and we can now target our phasers against their weak spots. Their shields should be ineffective."

"Sir? Excuse me?" Zuma said, stunned.

"I have already scanned their shield frequencies, Ensign." Varupuchu said dryly.

"That should take longer, even for primitive shields, Sir. Are you positive?" Zuma said.

Varupuchu shot Zuma a disapproving look. "I am quite positive, Ensign. Commander, while the Ensign may have been insubordinate, he is correct. I have rarely seen shields so poorly executed."

Li'ira said "Really? Good! So what's the analysis?"

"The Computer estimates that we should be able to destroy them utterly with no loss of life for the Harrier and a 40 chance of minor damage to the ship."

Li'ira grinned. "Lovely. Thank you Mr. Varupuchu."

"Coming out of warp. Contact in one minute." Spaat reported.

"Open hailing frequencies." Li'ira said.

On the signal from Ensign Zuma she said "This is the Starship Harrier. We seek friendly contact. Please respond."

A face appeared on the view screen. Blocky, yet humanoid. He had a heavy forehead and a lantern jaw. His eyebrows rode on top of ridges of bone, and his teeth appeared too large for his jaw. He looked like an old stereotype of a cave man.

"Ooga blungle meengle wok!" He said. A moment later the universal translator achieved lock on and repeated the statement. "This system is ours! Leave or I kill you!"

"I'm sorry, I can't do that." Li'ira sounded reasonable. "May be there's a way to settle this without all the killing?"

"I show you killing if you don't leave!"

"Are you certain that you don't want to discuss this?"

"Yes! What I want is the riches of this system for me and the Sixians! What I want is to see you running or dead! I will do whatever I need to do to get what I want!" The Sixian cut the channel.

"The Sixian has changed course to intercept, Commander." Varupuchu said "Contact in thirty seconds."

"Raise shields. Go to red alert." Li'ira said. The red alert klaxons signaled the Harrier to battle readiness.

"On screen." Li'ira said. The image of the Sixian raider appeared. It was an ugly starship. through the gaps in its shields, the Harrier could scan every deck and nearly every individual on the ship.

The Sixian raider was made out of slabs. The intermix chamber hung off the back of the ship, open to space for cooling and to give the radiation it gave off somewhere else to go. The forward edge of the hull was an armored ram. Laser turrets and missile tubes jutted this way and that.

"I am surprised that it can make warp speed at all." Varupuchu said.

Graphics detailed the long trail of hot radioactive plasma the ship left behind. All starships leave plasma in their wake. It's a side effect of the engines. ut this ship was leaving it's own engine plasma. It was using only a portion of what it generated for power and heaving the rest overboard.

"The intruder is now within weapons range for long range fire." Zuma said

"Hold your fire, Ensign Zuma." Li'ira said.

"Missiles arming commander." Varupuchu could see the antimatter travel across the ship to the missile pods, on his sensors.

"Jam their sensors, Mr. Varupuchu." Li'ira ordered. Varupuchu made the proper adjustments and then hit a button.

"Their sensors are jammed, Commander." He reported.

The Sixian fired his missiles. They left the tube and streaked off in random directions. Most of them locked onto the Dorian sun, but two locked onto other missiles. There was a merry chase, ending when one of the missiles caught its target missile and detonated with enough force to eliminate the whole salvo.

The Sixian ship kept closing.

"Evasive" Li'ira ordered

Spaat threw the Harrier into a complicated loop to evade the Sixian ship. He need not have bothered. The Sixian ship kept bearing down on the position where the Harrier had been.

"Bring us along side." Li'ira ordered.

"Drop sensor jamming and hail them." Li'ira said.

The cave man appeared again "What!?" He demanded.

"We have been hit by laser fire, Commander. No damage, no weakening of our shields." Zuma reported.

Li'ira nodded and turned to the Sixian. "Your weapons can not harm us. Our weapons are superior. Are you sure you don't want to discuss it?" Li'ira asked

"Save us all time and drop dead!" The Sixian howled and cut the channel.

"Nice guys," Li'ira said.

"They have increased power to laser cannons. They are overheating now. One of them has exploded." Zuma reported.

"The intruder is coming about." Varupuchu warned. "They are charging their cannon."

"Evasive." Li'ira said.

Spaat again threw the Harrier into a spin designed to fool fire prediction computers.

"They have fired." Zuma reported "It was some kind of phaser cannon. Very primitive. It would have struck us like one of our phaser banks set on twenty percent power."

Li'ira said "Could that have penetrated our shields?"

"No, Commander."

"They are recharging. Estimate another shot in five minutes" Varupuchu said.

"Bring us up on their tail. Arm phasers. ready for a broad focus firing pattern. I want to damage their shields more than their ship."

The Harrier came about and smoothly glided up to the rear of the Sixian ship. The Sixian ship began to thrust violently from one side to the other in an attempt to lose the Harrier. It was unsuccessful.

"Phasers ready, Commander." Zuma said

"Fire." Li'ira said

The phasers of the Harrier lashed out against the Sixian shields. There was a fireworks display as the phasers played all over the facing side of the Sixians ship. The Sixian ship shuddered and stopped flinging itself from side to side, suddenly.

"They are coming about." Spaat reported.

"They are firing lasers at overload levels. No damage." Zuma said

"They are about ready to fire their phaser cannon again." Varupuchu added.

"Tactical, tune phasers for best effect against the Sixian shields. Target weapons, including that phaser cannon, and fire to disable them." Li'ira said

"Aye, Commander." Zuma made the adjustments quickly.

The Sixian ship fired its phaser cannon, also overloading the amount of energy put into it.

The Harrier bucked and rocked slightly. "We've been hit. Our forward shield has been slightly weakened. No other damage." Varupuchu said.

"Phasers ready, Commander." Zuma said

"Fire."

The phasers of the Harrier, tied to the sensors and the computers fired a rapid set of pulses. All over the Sixian ship tubes and turrets began to explode. The phasers of the Harrier went through the shields of the Sixian ship as though they did not exist. The Sixian ship lurched and tried to dodge the incoming fire, but it was far too late. One more burst tunneled into the hull of the Sixian ship and chewed into the phaser cannon. Soon the cannon was out of action.

The Sixian ship had been totally disarmed.

"Hail them again." Li'ira said.

The cave man came back on the screen.

"Now we're going to talk." Li'ira said

"Talk while you still can, Dorian! Now that we have found an enemy worth our mettle, the whole might of the Sixian Empire will descend upon you! No matter how many terror ships you now have, our dreadnoughts will defeat them! Our fire will rain down from your skies! Your oceans will run pink with your blood! Our deaths will be avenged! No Dorian shall survive!" The Sixian was shouting and spittle flew from his mouth.

"Who said anything about killing you?" Li'ira said mildly.

"What!?" The Sixian seemed to enjoy shouting.

"We want you to leave the Dorians in peace." Li'ira said patiently.

"Err..." the Sixian got a sneaky look on his face "Okay!"

"I'm sorry?" Li'ira couldn't believe her eyes.

"We won't shoot any more Dorians! None at all! Can we leave now?!" The Sixian was trying his best to look innocent and failing miserably.

"If you promise not to hurt anyone, you may leave." Li'ira said. The bridge crew of the Harrier exchanged incredulous looks as, in the background, a male Sixian voice began to guffaw.

"Oh, we won't! We promise!" The lead Sixian said, while other Sixians struggled to keep their laughter silent in the background.

"Okay. Off you go, then." Li'ira waved vaguely out of the Doria system.

"Eternal Peace!" The grinning Sixian shouted on the screen. The laughter was louder now. "Eternal friendship between us and the Dorians!" He cut off the channel as the laughter broke loose.

The Harrier escorted the Sixian Raider for a short distance. Then the raider went to Warp three and was out of the Dorian System in less than two hours.

The Harrier returned to orbit around Doria III and Li'ira made her report.

--

I watched the report back aboard the Harrier, in the briefing room.

"Uh oh." Was my first comment.

"What I'll be wanting to know is how a bunch of sixth graders got ahold of starships." McTague said.

"Well, here's my dilemma. We can either stay here and be the Dorian defense force, or we can violate the Prime Directive and give the Dorians enough technology to even up the gap." I said.

Li'ira said "What your preference?"

"Number three." I said.

"Number three?" Tillean said.

"Number three is the brilliant idea that we come up with to settle the problem without doing either of the first two things."

--

Back on Doria III I reported the basics to the Ambassador.

"Lovely. Do you think they'll return to get revenge?" He said. I could see Sixian dreadnoughts dancing in his head. He didn't like the idea.

"I won't leave you in a lurch." I said I figured that it was my fault that the Sixians had been antagonized. I wasn't going to leave the Dorians holding the bag.

"Thank you." The Ambassador said. "I hope you will tell His Majesty, when you are presented to him."

"When is that to be?"

"Tomorrow evening."

It's a date," I agreed "Now there's a few things about your planet that I'd like to see."

The Ambassador grinned. Doria III was a pretty planet, and he figured that sight seeing should be easy enough to handle. He wasn't grinning after I told him what I wanted to see.

--

Creche number thirty-five was a huge, low sprawl of a complex. It looked like a huge school to me. There was a huge field where children ran and played. They ranged from groups about two and a half feet tall to ones the size of adults. Adult Dorians were scattered among them, supervising. There were several hundred individuals at Creche number thirty-five.

We pulled up in the official motorcade. I had argued the necessity, but the Ambassador had insisted. He had also insisted on coming with us.

As we got out of the motorcade, whistles sounded among the adults of Creche number thirty-five. As soon as they heard the whistle, the children and many of the adults bowed to the ground and held it. Even the two foot toddlers were made to bow, although their form was rather haphazard.

I caught Tillean's eyes. She was scanning the crowd with slitted eyes, and the blood drained from her face.

Stephanie and McTague looked stunned.

One of the adults who remained standing came over to us and warmly greeted the Ambassador.

"Ambassador! To what do we owe the pleasure?" He asked brightly, oblivious to several hundred people with their faces in the dirt.

"Well, our honored guests wanted to take a tour of your facility, and review the excellent work you do here." The Ambassador dropped compliments wholesale.

"Well then," The man turned to us "I am Headmaster Gringle, welcome to Creche' number thirty-five." He stepped forward to shake our hands.

I shook his hand and made the right noises by rote. McTague followed my cue and was polite although he sounded hoarse. Stephanie caught his eye, and was very serious. Tillean refused to touch him, stepping away with her eyes still locked on all the prostrate children.

He turned around and shouted to another standing adult "I think that's sufficient, sound the release!"

The whistles and bells made another signal and everyone got up and moved away slowly, back into their own cliques and business. The two footers all watched us with big eyes.

We were whisked through a tour of Creche number thirty-five, courtesy of Headmaster Gringle, the genial, affable slave master.

The creche was clean and modern, like a friendly boarding school. The teaching equipment was all in excellent condition, and modern. We watched a group of adolescents going through a shop class, training to fix cars and machines by rote.

There was no writing or reading anywhere. The schools were taught by teachers with computer terminals that had color coding. The Students answered question with colors. They asked none of their own.

There was nothing but a momentary snapshot of time. There was no yesterday, there was no tomorrow. We watched a soap opera that featured happy servants and their lives and loves. They never questioned their status or the orders of the ruling class.

--

We got back into the motorcade. Soon we were settled and the motorcade started off on its return trip to the Diplomatic Palace. As soon as we were moving, Tillean put her head in her lap and cried, disconsolately.

Nobody looked too happy, not even the Ambassador.

"Okay, now tell me the truth." I said to him.

"We have told you the truth, as far as it goes." He said. I got a chill.

"The fact is that the social system imposed during the Great Rectification was based on slavery. Not slavery of one man by another, but a cleaner style where slaves are a resource belonging to the people as a whole. The state is charged with assuring their well being and that they serve appropriately."

"It began during the time of the Accountants. They had huge armies of slaves. Hundred of thousands were worked to death or tortured, or killed for the amusement of the Accountants."

"During the Great Rectification, A genius arose, named Nam. He lead the slaves to freedom and then established our current system."

Tillean looked up. "You're advanced enough now not to need slaves. Why do you still keep them?"

"The adjustment to a non-slave economy would be too wrenching. The whole system has evolved around this basic facet. We would have to change everything, all at once. It would be too difficult. Besides, what would all the slaves do with themselves once they were freed?"

"How do you decide who is a slave and who isn't?" I asked "What's the criteria, there?"

"Well, the current servant class are the survivors of the old ruling class."

"And the old lower classes?"

"We live a freer life style, with education provided by the state. There many jobs for administrators, scientists, Law Enforcement, Military Officers and so on."

"But the Servant class?"

"They are assigned by their aptitudes, when possible. We try to make sure they lack for nothing."

"What happens when a member of the slave class grows dissatisfied?" I asked "What happens when they resist?"

"Once dissatisfaction sets in there is no hope for the individual. He will never be happy with his lot again. In order to keep this malaise from spreading, from infecting others, the dissatisfied individual is quickly, quietly and painlessly eliminated."

"Because of the questions you asked of Jeoj, He became dissatisfied, and I had to have him put down, last night."

I thought that I was going to puke. Tillean waited a few moments and then did so.

"Our system has worked and provided an adequate standard of living for hundreds of years." The Ambassador seemed to be getting annoyed. "Say what you will, it works."

"Our way is sufficient for us." All of his geniality was gone. "And according to your Prime Directive that should be enough for you."

--

That night I spent aboard the Harrier. So did Tillean, McTague and Stephanie. I think they slept. I didn't. I had a rough decision to make.

I studied the scans of the Sixian ship. It was an ugly thing. I was surprised that anyone had voluntarily built and flown it.

But it would do the trick to splatter the more competent, yet less advanced designs of the Dorians, wouldn't it?

I hadn't gotten my number three idea yet, and now I doubted that I would. My choice was down to giving the Dorians technology or letting them get splattered.

I thought of The Ambassador, Jeoj, and Headmaster Gringle, and made up my mind.

Then I thought of Salby the historian, the serving woman who looked at me funny for saying thank you, and all the little two footers and their big eyes and unmade it again.

The Sixian ship spun on the monitor in front of me.

--

"Your Highness, Nam the Fourteenth, the duly elected King of Doria, may I present the crew of the Starship Harrier, from the distant United Federation of Planets."

There were four of us again, but Tillean had been replaced by Harksain Varupuchu. Tillean had refused to set foot on the planet again, and I didn't blame her.

"Presenting the Captain of the Harrier and the Representative Extraordinary for the United Federation of Planets, Jay Patrick Hailey."

I stepped forward and came to attention in front of the King. Except that he ruled over a pleasant hell, he seemed like someone's grandfather. He seemed totally out of place on the throne. Starfleet Protocol says here that you "Make an appropriate gesture of greetings/respect". Most Captains borrow the Japanese bow. I was about to bow when the implications occurred to me. I stopped and went with the next thing in my mind, the Marine salute. I held my arm straight out to the side of my body and brought the hand back at sharp angle until the fingers of my straight hand barely touched my eyebrow. I held it for three beats and the King nodded pleasantly. I brought my hand down and stepped aside, as per the protocol instructions from the Ambassador.

Stephanie used my salute, but McTague and Varupuchu instead used the Vulcan greeting, hand up palm out, Fingers spread in the characteristic "V" shape. They bid the King to "Live Long and Prosper" and he smiled pleasantly at them and nodded.

Later we milled about making strained small talk.

"It's only a matter of time, you know." Salby said.

I jumped and turned to face him. "A matter of time until what?" I said. It was hard to get enthusiasm up about anything.

He nodded to the servant woman passing out drinks and refreshments. It was the same one from the diplomatic reception two nights ago.

"Until she and her brothers kill us all and stick our heads on pikes in front of these palaces." He grinned merrily.

I looked carefully at him. He didn't seem mad on the surface. "That doesn't seem like any fun."

He said "Oh I have no doubt it will be a very unpleasant experience, but it's inevitable. I know. It's all in the history."

I sighed "It doesn't have to be that way."

"Oh, I know that, too. I thought that this might be the case, until I read the information about your Federation. Now I know."

"So now what?"

"Oh, nothing. One man can't make changes that big, even he was the King. But now I know. If I tell two people, then two people will know. If they tell two people and so on, everyone would know in a short amount of time. The problem is that most of these people don't want to know."

He turned and squinted around the reception.

"Come with me. There's someone I'd like you to meet." He grabbed my arm and started to drag me off.

I caught Stephanie's eye just as she was about to take the elderly historian down. I waved her off. I wanted to see who else knew these things now.

We left the diplomatic party through a generic service door. We wandered a short distance down some perfectly prosaic corridors until we came to an office.

It was a fairly large office. I imagined that a member of the ruling class sat there and made heavy decisions about how much of what gourmet food to lay in for the guests of the palace. Then the servants left to fetch it and carry it in.

To my utter surprise Nam the Fourteenth came in and began to hang his rainments up in a utility closet.

"Good evening, Salby. Have you been haranguing the Captain with your tales of doom and gloom?" He said.

I came to attention and put my juice quickly down on the desk.

"Oh, knock it off." Nam the Fourteenth said tiredly, "Save it for the rubes."

"Nam, have you read those parts of the Federations' packet I outlined?" Salby said excitedly.

"Who's had the time? I bet they confirmed your views, though."

"Yes, indeedy!" Salby cackled.

"I had a chance to scan them briefly." He turned to me. "Now tell the truth, these weren't the whole story, were they?"

"Well, no, things aren't always as cut and dried as the examples they choose for that piece."

"Hee hee! I thought so!" Salby cackled again.

"Then we'll take it with a grain of salt, won't we?" The King came up to me and squinted in my face.

"Does that redness around your eyes mean what I think it does?" He asked.

"What's that?" I responded.

"You've had a long night." He said.

"Yes, yes I have."

"Quite a pickle you've arranged for yourself!" Salby said. "You pledge yourself to protect people you can't stand."

Nam shook his head "Now you can't stay, and you can't go."

I sat down heavily on the sofa in the king's office. "So now what do I do?"

"Well first, you download accurate accounts of your Federation to us!" Salby jumped in.

Nam shot Salby an amused look and then explained "The accurate information about the histories of the worlds in your Federation may help us convince a certain number of people that our system is not the only successful social structure. Once the knowledge that there is another way to do things becomes more wide spread, maybe the desire to change things will, too."

"Secondly," Nam said "My intelligence service speculates that the Sixians may have a base not too far from our system. We can roughly measure their speed and they can't get to any nearby stars in the time they take between raids."

"If you make a little stop by that base..." Nam led

"And impress 'em with your diplomatic prowess!" Salby hooted.

"Then the brunt of their anger might follow you, and not us." Nam finished.

"Yes, Sir." I took the suggestion.

--

We signed a completely bland treaty with the Dorian Ambassador. He needed it to cover his ass with the Dorian people. We had a very public signing. Then the crew of the Harrier got a layover in a nature preserve. I didn't know how long it was going to be before we got to see real sky, walk on real dirt, or breathe real air again.

We camped out at least three hundred miles from the nearest Dorian natives, and, over all, it was a fun camping trip.

Tillean didn't go. She never again set foot on Doria III.

I went down on the last afternoon and made of point of walking barefoot in the nearby stream. It was cold!

Most of the rest of these three days I spent compiling more honest information for Salby, and Nam, so they could know for certain.

I also salved my conscience for bringing down the wrath of the Sixians by sending them the complete scan data of the Sixian raider.

This amounted to a complete blueprint for the ship. It would take them a while to be able to duplicate it, and longer to develop a more sane design, but it was better than leaving them totally uncovered.

I rationalized that they would only have to shoot down and recover the wreckage of five or six Sixian ships in order to puzzle out most of this information.

Never mind that it was unlikely to recover even one intact. It was a wonder that they maintained antimatter containment as a usual thing, let alone in battle. I could not find a hint of an ejection system for the antimatter storage pod. Lose containment and there goes the ship, and probably everyone on it.

The simple fact is that I gave them technology that they wouldn't have otherwise. A clear violation of the Prime Directive.

I did it by myself. There was only a skeleton crew on board the Harrier. I used my command codes to over ride the communications system and uploaded the information manually, from isolinear chips.

I felt as thought any Sixian counter attacks would be my fault, and I had to try to make it better.

--

We had passed the Sixian raider a short distance outside the Dorian system. He was only making warp three and at that rate it would take him weeks or months to make it anywhere. Our long range sensors were orders of magnitude better than his, so we were able to shadow him and record his precise heading.

At warp six we made it to the Sixian starbase that afternoon. It was less than a light year from the Dorian system. Varupuchu was livid at having missed it.

The Sixians weren't mentioned in any of the information we had gotten from the Gallowayans, so I suppose we had taken for granted that there was nothing there that they didn't know of.

We trundled right up to the Sixian starbase, and hailed it as bold as brass.

There were five large starships docked to the starbase they were bigger and heavier than the Harrier, but they were simply bigger versions of the small raider ship that we had defeated earlier. They were frightening on a whole different level.

--

"I am Captain Hailey, commanding the Federation starship Harrier. We are on a peaceful mission of exploration. We wish friendly contact. Will you speak with us?"

The cave man like Sixian on the screen was, evidently the starbase commander, since he was older, going gray, and had numerous scars.

It took him a while to sort out what I had said. Varupuchu and Spaat poured over the sensors, gathering data about the Sixians.

"Uh... Sure! We be friends!" He grinned broadly showing all the teeth he had left. "Surrender now, and we be good friends."

"Ah, no, we really wouldn't like that." I said "Maybe we could just talk like this for a while, until we learn more about each other."

"No, Really! It be okay! C'mon over." His grin was greedy and feral.

"Where is your Home world?" I asked. I caught Stephanie waving at me. She stayed out of pickup range while signaling that the Sixians were manning their dreadnoughts.

"We not tell you! You not attack us!"

"No, no no!" I had to fight to keep the grin off my face "We not attack you, we just want to be friends."

"Err. Come to me and I tell you!" Said the base commander.

"No" I grinned. I couldn't help it the Sixians were worse than the Pakleds. Keeping a straight face was just too hard for me. "I not go to you."

The base commanders' face screwed up in a scowl. It took him two and half beats to get it. "YOU MAKE FUN OF US!!" He bellowed, and his rage was terrible to behold. He looked truly dangerous. But he was stuck with a group of crappy, death trap starships.

I whooped. I couldn't help it. Laughing, I gasped "No, really..." But there was no stopping him now

"I KILL YOU!!" The Base Commander raged "I EAT YOU HEART!!"

Stephanie mercifully cut contact at that point.

Wiping tears from eyes, I said "Status of the Sixian ships?"

Varupuchu's tone was brittle as he said "There are four operational starship in that cluster. The fifth is not complete, and won't be for some weeks. They are now powering up as quickly as possible."

"I wonder why?" I said rhetorically. "Helm, One quarter impulse along heading 270 mark 15, engage."

The Harrier began to crawl away from the Sixian starbase.

"Captain, I have encrypted messages from the Sixian base, they aren't aimed us, but to objects out of our current sensor range." Tillean reported.

Reinforcements? Probably.

"The Sixian ships are moving. Target three is clearing the base. Targets one and two are now clear. Ahem."

I looked to see Varupuchu blinking rapidly. His face seemed a little more blue.

"Target four is out of action, as well as the starbase." He said.

"Really?" I encouraged.

"Target four crashed into the base and has sustained significant hull damage. The base itself is moderately damaged, and they won't be using that bay for quite some time." He took a breath and regained his composure.

The Harrier was forced to go to half impulse to stay ahead of the Sixian dreadnoughts. They boosted on raw drive plasma, spewed out behind them like rocket exhaust. They were quite serious about getting the Harrier too, because they cranked up the temperature of their drive plasma too high and irradiated themselves doing it.

Two of the Sixians prepared to go to warp. I bet that they would try a short warp burst to get ahead of us, and then go sublight to cut us off and engage us.

I took the Harrier to warp one as they were about to engage their warp drives.

The speed was a slow crawl. I doubted that we had actually flown the Harrier for any great amount of time at warp one until that point.

Soon all three dreadnoughts were making warp two and were about to get within range to launch their warp speed antimatter missiles at us.

I took us to warp two. The Sixians held warp two and then went to warp three.

Just as we went to warp three to keep the chase going, we sighted two new Sixian dreadnoughts on a heading to cut us off. It would have taken a couple of hours for the formation to form up.

I ordered the Harrier to warp three point five. It was an odd number and a strain on our engines, but not too bad, and I wanted to see what the Sixians would do.

The four Sixian dreadnoughts behind us tried to match our speed. They varied up and down between warp three point two to warp three point seven. They simply could not hold a steady speed.

Varupuchu called me over to his station. "Captain, I think you should see this." I went and looked. I have never seen warp fields doing that before, and Ghod willing, I will not again.

The warp fields of the Sixian ships were writhing like love sick amoebas. Their warp fields were not too hot to start out with, but they were on the verge of starting a wormhole, or imploding their ships. Their engine nacelles were glowing with visible light, they were so overheated.

It looked as though we were moments away from baiting them into an accident. The antimatter detonation, if one of those nightmare ships lost containment, could damage the Harrier, even if all their intentional efforts could not.

"Go to warp six, please Ensign Spaat." I ordered in as calm a voice as I could muster.

The Harrier leapt ahead of the Sixian pursuers and soon left their sensor ranges.

None of the Sixians ships actually detonated, but they all lost warp capability soon after we left.

--

Later Spaat and Varupuchu came to an interesting conclusion. Using the excellent scans of individual Sixians they were able to gather, they came to the conclusion that the Sixians were an artificial race. Their explanation sounded good as far as I could follow it. Tillean and Dr. Flynn independently confirmed their results later.

The Sixians were an artifact of an advanced and callous race. Had they been abandoned to rise back to star flight on their own? It would take someone other than me to figure it out.

--

After wards we set course for that last planet on the Gallowayan trade route towards home. It was called Gerard's World.

-End-

Data File: The Dorians

by Dennnis Washburn and Jay P. Hailey

Location:

The Dorian System is located 1,279 light years away from the Federation border inside the Gallowayan sphere of influence.

Geography:

The Dorian System has three planets of note. The third planet is the Dorian home world, a class M planet rehabilitated following ecological abuse. It is a normal class "M" world with many varying climates and geographical types.

The second planet in the Dorian System is also class "M". It is a hotter and wetter world, mostly of swamps or desert habitats. There are many life forms on Doria II which are related to Dorian III species, although they have been skillfully altered to live happily in the different climate of Doria II. Some evidence points to a conclusion that Doria II was skillfully terraformed. This is beyond the current capabilities of the Dorians.

The last relevant feature of the Doria System is the innermost planet, Doria I. It is the basis for the economy of the Doria system. Doria I is packed full of useful minerals

People:

The Dorians are humanoids, with fluted nose channels and segmented foreheads. This is related though their sense of smell which is better developed than a Terran Human's, about on a par with that of a Klingon's.

The Dorians are generally gregarious and friendly. They are easy going and xenophobia is almost unknown to them. They can be vicious when provoked.

Government Types:

The Dorian government is an constitutional monarchy. When a king begins to age, or perceives that death is near, then he nominates a successor who is confirmed by public hearings followed by a popular vote of the members of the ruling class.

The ruling class provides all ministers and supervisors who rule by fiat in the name of the king.

The social system is a socialism with the state being the sole employer and seller of goods.

Economy:

The Economy of the Dorian system is powered by the mineral wealth of the inner most planet of the Dorian system. Internally, the Dorians spend a lot of energy maintaining an ecologically sound yet abundant standard of living.

Military:

The Dorians have a military composed of thousands of Servant Class ground troops and enlisted personnel, lead by an elite corps of Ruling Class officers. Due to the dangers inherent in arming the servant class, most of the soldiery is kept in an unarmed reserve status.

The Dorian space fleet is limited to laser and missile armed, sub light speed impulse powered boats. Soon they may take advantage of captured Sixian warp drive technology, making them a force in the sector.

History:

The most powerful event in Dorian history was the age of the Accountants and the rise of Nam, the Liberator followed by the Great Rectification.

The Age of Accountants was brutal totalitarianism, where warlords ruled callously, wasting resources avidly, and damaging the planet, it's environment and ecology with no thought of the future.

When the Accountants were deposed, the new Ruling Class, led by Nam took it as their sacred duty to preserve society, and restore the planet. They installed some draconian measures to do so. The worst of these was the casting of the old Ruling Class as the new slaves of society.

The new Servant Class was ruthless oppressed with the best of intentions for society as a whole the end goal.

Doria III was eventually rehabilitated by the manual labor of generations of servant class menials.

The Gallowayans contacted the Dorians, but due to their distaste for slavery, the relationship remained limited.

The Sixians contacted the Dorians and immediately began to raid and pillage them.

The Federation starship Harrier contacted the Dorians in early 2368, and signed a non-aggression treaty, and made some steps towards opening contact between the UFP and the Dorians.

Later in 2368, the Dorians began to take advantage of captured Sixian technology to rebuild their military to fend off the Sixian raids.

Culture:

The Dorian Culture seems idyllic and smooth at first glance. It rides on the division between the Ruling Class and the Servant Class.

Members of the Ruling Class have the full potential of their civilization available, full education is the rule, and all careers are open and begging for new practitioners.

Members of the Servant Class are not allowed to be literate, or to change jobs except as determined by the ruling class. They are bred and raised in huge creches, and are taught to live lives of unquestioning obedience. If any member of the servant class becomes dissatisfied or questions his role in life, he is quickly and efficiently killed, and his body disposed of quietly.

Although this system is inhumane it is efficient, and Doria remain a nice planet to visit, assuming you have no compassion for the hapless Servant Class.

-End-


	9. Chapter 9

REP: Star Trek: Outwardly Mobile (OCC - TNG era) 08 The Et-Tu, PG 1/1

Title: Star Trek: Outwardly Mobile 08 The Et-Tu

Author: Jay P Hailey ST-OM, OCC - TNG era 08/54?

Rating:PG

Archive: Fine with me, just tell me where.

Disclaimer: Paramount owns all things Star Trek. I claim Original Characters and Situations for me.

Webpage HTTP://jayphailey. Trek: Outwardly Mobile

Episode 08 The Et-Tu

(Stardate 45223)

By Dennnis Washburn and Jay P. Hailey

The Romulan ship drifted in front of us, silently. I was sweating and trying not to show it.

"Any changes?" I asked

"No, Captain." Harksain Varupuchu said. I could tell he thought I was being impatient.

"How about inside the ship?" I asked.

Stephanie Anderson, my Chief of Security was monitoring tricorders that we had turned on and beamed into the derelict ship.

"Nothing, Captain. There are no life forms above fungus and algae level."

What an old Romulan Warbird was doing out here at all was a mystery to begin with. She was empty her crew was gone. There were no bodies and no clues.

Spaat, our Vulcan Helmsman had translated her name, written on the hull. It was a complicated concept. She was named for the emotion you feel when you find that you have been betrayed and all your plans undone, by your best friend, who has been compelled by his honor. In Julius Caesar by Shakespeare, Caesar has this emotion when he turns to find even Brutus has stabbed him. So we called the Warbird Et-Tu.

The temperature and micro-meteorite pitting of her hull showed that the Et-Tu had been abandoned for about fifty years.

I had a decision to make. The reason that the Warbird had been here, and why she had been abandoned might be important. They might be vital to our survival. We weren't finding these reasons by remote control.

"I have a result." Flagg said. I had called him to the Bridge to share whatever knowledge he had about Romulan operations with us.

He was searching through the Harrier's archive. The Harrier, like all Starfleet starships carried as complete archive of all records and knowledge of the Federation. This knowledge was often a useful tool. If nothing else, when you became too bored you could read classic literature or history from the dozens of worlds in the Federation. There was more than a person could read in a lifetime there.

I found it weird and amusing that the Harrier carried data that no one aboard was classified to see. Just in case an Admiral or Ambassador was required by an emergency to use the Harrier as his flagship, Starfleet wanted everything he needed to know available.

Flagg was digging through Intelligence files, trying to find if our intelligence operations had acquired data on the Et-Tu.

"The Et-Tu, a Theta class Warbird, listed as missing in 2307, on a routine science mission." Flagg reported.

I wanted to know what had happened to the Romulans. It might just save our lives. Who would I send? Who might get killed trying to find out?

I didn't like that train of thought. Many Captains had picked up the habit of leading away teams. Now I thought I understood why. If I sent anyone over there I should go, too. It was only fair. We should face it together. After all, wasn't it my responsibility? I knew I was going to hate sitting on the bridge and not knowing.

"Commander." I said to Li'ira "Please take an away team to the Romulan ship. Take Ensigns Spaat and Bruce. They will try to gain access to the Et-Tu's computer. Take Colonel Flagg and try to find out what happened to the crew."

Li'ira listened carefully, until I got to the part about Flagg. She said "Aye, Sir," dubiously, looking at Flagg,

I turned to Flagg. "Commander Li'ira will be in command of the away team, Colonel. Will you have a problem with that?"

Flagg responded with a faint, inscrutable smile "Not at all, Sir."

--

The air on board the Et-Tu was hot and tasted stale. As the away team materialized, and noticed this, Ensign Bruce made a whooshing noise and said "Those Romulan sure liked it hot, didn't they?"

"The temperature approximates the surface temperature of the Romulan Homeworld. Approximately ninety-three point five Fahrenheit degrees." Spaat pointed out.

The Harrier's crewmen looked around. They were in a corridor, long and straight. It was dark, only a few light sources dimly shining.

Flagg consulted his tricorder. "The Bridge should be forward. This way." and started in that direction. The away team walked up the corridor towards the leading edge of the ship.

Li'ira suppressed a momentary irritation with Flagg. One of his talents as a spy was a certain lack of content to his body language. It was hard to tell what he was thinking. He seemed to randomly and arbitrarily act. Li'ira thought that if she was patient, lenient and observant, she might be able to get the man sent to brig for mutiny. The thought brought a small smile to her lips.

Soon the team reached a set of armored doors leading to the bridge. Flagg tried a button. The doors didn't move. "They're locked." He said.

Li'ira looked to Spaat, who read the control panel and confirmed. "He is correct. The access to the bridge has been locked." He looked at Flagg "I was not aware that you read Romulan, Sir."

"Correct, Ensign." Flagg said.

Li'ira resisted the urge to strangle Flagg and said "Ensign Bruce, can you defeat the lock?" Li'ira thought she might be able to. She knew that Flagg almost certainly could. She wanted to test Bruce's talents for breaking and entering.

Bruce said "Yes, Sir." and got to work on the lock. With quick, methodical steps he detached the face plate of the lock and peered intently at the locking mechanism. After a few moments study he pulled a tool out of his tool kit and gently violated a component of the lock.

The door to the bridge slid open, and a small, irritated beep sounded.

Flagg grinned wider "The test circuit? Where did you learn that?"

Bruce turned to the Colonel "In high school, Sir. In Chicago."

After carefully checking the bridge, Li'ira set the two Ensigns to work on the computer.

Flagg activated the communications console. "Et-Tu to Harrier. This is Flagg, do you read?"

"This is Harrier, we read you. Go ahead." I said

"Away team status good. Ensigns Spaat and Bruce are beginning their work with the computer."

"Colonel, do you have the ability to set up a datalink to the Harrier?" Li'ira asked him.

"Yes, Commander." Flagg's voice was smooth and professional.

"Please do that. Do you have the ability to link our comm-badges through the Et-Tu's internal communications system?"

"Yes, Commander."

"Then let's do that, too."

On the Bridge of the Harrier I could see the datalink come to life on Tillean's panel. My own access was fairly high, and so I had continued searching for old Romulan access codes. I had found a couple of administrative codes that seemed like they might work. I sent them to Spaat and Bruce along the datalink.

Spaat, at the Warbird's science station entered the codes, and the Federation starship Harrier became a Romulan space station as far as the Et-Tu was concerned. Using a suggestion from Ensign Bruce, Spaat declared the crew of the Harrier administrative personnel. The irritating beep stopped, as the Et-Tu realized that the strangers on her bridge were actually maintenance crews from the space station.

Satisfied that work on the computers was going well, Li'ira turned to Flagg and said "Shall we?" With a gesture to the door way.

Flagg nodded jauntily and they left the bridge to explore the rest of the ship.

--

Spaat and Bruce immediately ran into problems. The sensors on the Et-Tu had been set to automatically scan at high resolution at close range. The computer had been recording these scans for nearly fifty years, but when Spaat and Bruce tried to download the data, an access code they didn't know of deleted the whole file.

They discovered that a pair of mechanical keys governed full access to the ship and computers. The keyholes were set into the Captain's chair in the middle of the bridge. A search of the Captain's office turned up personal items and information on who the man was, but no keys of any description.

They scanned the locks in an attempt to understand them. Bruce felt that he might be able to manually pick the locks once he knew more about their internal structure. The locks were sealed inside sensor proofed boxes and the Et-Tu warned them that scanning the command ciphers was a mutiny, and any further attempts could destroy the system. Bruce and Spaat wisely quit scanning at that point.

The Harrier was even notified that Spaat and Bruce had performed suspicious activities. The Et-Tu requested the we notify the Political Officer, immediately.

"But he's over there." Tillean said, meaning Flagg.

Stephanie grinned merrily, but Varupuchu silenced Tillean with a cold look. It was breach of discipline. I said "Open a channel to the Et-Tu to monitor the away team."

Stephanie moved to comply and stopped. "Captain, the channel is already open."

"So we can hear them and they can hear us?" I said looking at Tillean. She had the good graces to look embarrassed as she understood my warning.

Spaat and Bruce reported that they did not hear the subversion warnings on the bridge of the Et-Tu. The Warbird had ratted them out behind their backs

Li'ira and Flagg investigated several crew quarters on the Et-Tu. There were no signs of battle or major hardships. Some of the quarters did show signs of struggle and the signs were quite clear. Someone had been locked into the quarters and then forced their way out.

Li'ira and Flagg discovered a large mess hall. The primitive replicators in it were destroyed by some sort of fungus that had eaten many of the electronic components.

They scanned the fungus and we were able to add the scans to our biofilters on the transporters. The fungus wouldn't come back to the Harrier with them.

The mess hall itself had been disrupted somehow. Again it looked as though someone had been locked in, and had broken out.

There weren't even remains of people who had been disintegrated. There was nothing.

They found the Et-Tu's Main Engineering deck. This was a dreadful surprise. Their warp core had been jettisoned. There was a neat little hole in the deck that led down to the outer hull. The access doors had been replaced and neatly patched. The torn conduits and hoses had been repaired or removed. The Et-Tu had remained operational following the loss of her main engine.

A thorough search of the Engineering Deck turned up tools, control computers and plasma conduits all the normal equipment of a working starship. The engineering computers had been severely damaged by the same fungus which had destroyed the replicators. That wasn't too big a deal. The auxiliary power systems would probably have their own computers, and they were much less complex than a matter/anti-matter reactor.

The Warbird didn't need her main engineering computer, if we were going to return her to operation. However, this meant that we wouldn't be able to learn the details of the engineering of the Et-Tu.

They also found a small cylinder. It was about a foot tall and about eight inches wide. It was some sort of paper or plastic. It held some sort of green powder. It had split and the green powder spilled out onto the deck

Li'ira scanned it. The powder was a complex substance, so she fed her scan back to the Harrier for analysis. It wasn't inherently poisonous, or her tricorder would have warned her immediately.

Flagg approached it, "Is it some sort of drug?" He wondered. "Then why store it in Engineering?"

He touched some and held up his fingers. the green dust clung to the tips of his fingers. He sniffed it gingerly, but could not detect any smell. "What's it made of?" Flagg asked Li'ira.

She checked her tricorder again. "Mostly carbon, by the spectrum."

Flagg brushed off his hand. "We won't learn anything new here. Let's keep going. I want to see the Political Officer's office."

They turned to leave. Flagg stumbled. Li'ira was concerned. "Are you all right?"

He stabilized himself "Yeah I'm just a little dizzy. It's too hot in here."

Li'ira was very concerned. She knew that stumbling and getting just a little dizzy was out of character for Flagg.

He was sweating profusely and breathing heavily. "It's just too hot."

Li'ira checked Flagg with her tricorder. His body temperature was high, and his respiration was high. His heartbeat rate was going higher. The tricorder diagnosed excessive stress.

"You're having some sort of reaction. Calm down." Li'ira said. She slapped her comm-badge. "Harrier, this is Li'ira. I need to know what that green dust is. Flagg's having some sort of reaction to it."

I looked at Tillean. She said "I have a good scan. I'm analyzing."

I began to bark orders. "Contamination alert. Transporter room two, prepare an isolation field and get ready to beam the away team back. Sickbay, alert. Colonel Flagg has been contaminated."

"I heard." Doctor Flynn responded "Don't beam them back here. I'm getting ready to go over there myself."

"But-" I began

Varupuchu turned and quietly said. "Captain. I must concur. You can't risk the whole ship."

I felt helpless, but I knew Varupuchu and Dr. Flynn were right. "Doctor, I need you to confirm that you're safe before we beam you over. Will the sealed space suits keep the dust out?"

"They should, Captain."

Flagg began to hyperventilate "I've got to get out of here!"

Knowing that Flagg had trained extensively in martial arts, Li'ira didn't touch him. She stood back and watched as he seemed to panic.

"The ship! It's closing in! I can't breathe!" He screamed. Flagg leaped to his feet and began to run.

Li'ira didn't see any point to following her ex-mentor in a hot and sweaty chase through the Warbird, so she drew her phaser and double checked that it was on stun setting.

"I've got to get out here!" Flagg shouted as he ran from the Engineering Deck and into the corridor. Li'ira sighted, but just as she pressed the trigger, a wave of dizziness threw her aim off.

Flagg disappeared around the corner as the phaser beam missed him.

"Li'ira to Harrier. I have been affected, too. Flagg is loose in the ship." She unsteadily began to follow him

"Beam two space suits over to Spaat and Bruce, on the Warbird's bridge." I said. It was a forlorn hope, but maybe they hadn't gotten enough of the weird green dust to do them any harm.

"Can we use the Warbird's sensors to track Flagg?" I asked Varupuchu.

"Yes, Captain." He made the proper adjustments and a representation of the Warbird appeared on the main screen. We watched Flagg easily out distance Li'ira. He headed outwards towards the outer hull of the Et-Tu.

We could hear Flagg babbling incoherently as he ran. From the sound of it he was panicking from an acute claustrophobia reaction.

Claustrophobia is not something that Starfleet is too used to dealing with. We screen for it in cadets and recruits. Some one with the tendencies toward claustrophobia is usually guided into another career or has a mandatory ground assignment for his whole tour of duty.

People who are stuck aboard enclosed spaces, like starships, for an extended period might get a temporary claustrophobia, and if they are traumatized during that time it may become permanent. Starfleet had the benefit of nearly 400 years of continuous research into the area from Earth, on humans. Some races had more or less data, but it was all taken into account in the designs of Federation starships.

The Harrier had a few larger spaces like the shuttle bays, the cargo holds and the huge lounge. She was also visually very different from one section to another. There were large windows wherever we could reasonably place them.

Somehow, Flagg seemed to have acquired a major case of claustrophobia.

He ran to an upper deck and out to a docking port. There was an air lock there, a door out of the Et-Tu. Except for a few short wrong turns Flagg was heading straight for it.

Li'ira had taken a wrong turn and was shambling along. Although she was still moving, catching Flagg was not her priority. She had another problem.

On the Bridge of the Harrier we could hear her labored breathing, and moans. She could feel the ship closing in on her, too.

"Spaat! Bruce! See if you can lock out the docking port controls!" I called to the crew men on the Et-Tu. They quickly arranged an over ride on the airlock doors. Flagg couldn't throw himself out of the Et-Tu without defeating the lock on the doors. I didn't think that would be too much of a problem for him. "Transporter room two, get a lock on Flagg and be ready to beam him back on my signal."

"Do you have any idea of when you'll be able to neutralize that green dust?" I said to Tillean.

She grinned "Oh, yes. I'm sending the data to sickbay now, Captain. They should have an antidote in ten minutes."

"Really?" I was shocked. It was better news than we had a right to expect.

"Harrier, I'm in trouble." Li'ira said. She sounded strangled and I could hear the undertone of fear in her voice. She was on the verge of losing control.

"Hang on!" I said "We'll have an antidote in ten minutes!"

"I don't think I'm going to make it that long." Her voice quavered "Unless, do you think I could sedate myself?"

It was a novel approach. Shooting up on away team missions was generally frowned on. "Sickbay, please advise Commander Li'ira."

A nurse in Sickbay answered and talked Li'ira through a dosage of pain killers from her med-kit. Dr. Flynn was busily synthesizing the antidote.

Li'ira could almost feel the Romulan ship crushing her. She focused as hard as she could but her hands still shook as she measured out the dose and applied the hypospray to her arm.

Flagg had reached the airlock, but he was in such a panic by the time he got there, that he was unable to break the lockout on the door. He screamed incoherently and clawed at the doors "LET ME OUT!!"

"Tee hee hee." Li'ira said. "Oops. I think I over did it." She giggled more as the drugs took effect.

Now thoroughly intoxicated, Li'ira decided to continue her search for Flagg. Part of her had the vague idea that he should be stopped, but mostly she was thinking that it would be fun to get him stoned from the med-kit.

"This is fun. I'm going to find Flagg and see if I can loosen him up a little bit. Tee hee!" Li'ira's earlier near hysterical claustrophobia was now reduced to a slight feeling of being constrained. Li'ira solved this by leaving her uniform behind her, one piece at a time. She left a trail in the completely wrong direction as she went in search of Flagg.

We were treated to several minutes worth of Flagg's incoherent screaming panic interspersed with Li'ira humming old spacer drinking songs as she wandered, more or less randomly through the Et-Tu. She hummed them off key.

"Captain, How long did you say that it would be until the antidote was ready?" Spaat said calmly.

I looked at Tillean and she held up three fingers.

"Three minutes." I said

"Excellent. Please hurry as much as you can." Spaat said with perfect calm.

"Hurry Uuuuupp!" Ensign Bruce moaned "Pleeeeeease!"

With a shock I realized that the green dust had affected them, too.

I turned to Stephanie "Get a quad of Security into sealed space suits and have them meet Dr. Flynn in the transporter room."

Stephanie nodded to me and gave her orders into her panel.

"I've got it!" Flynn shouted "I'm dosing myself now. I'll meet security in the transporter room. Have them ready to go!"

Soon we could hear the second away team beaming onto the Et-Tu. Flagg's screams took on a higher pitch as he realized that they were there to stop him from getting out. "No! I've got to get out! You don't understand! They'll get me! Can't let them have me! Aiiee!"

The security officers escorting the Chief Medical Officer stunned Flagg liberally. Then held his limp form down while Flynn administered the antidote.

"Can we screen for that green dust with the transporters?" I asked.

Tillean said "Yes, Captain."

"Do it. When that's in place, beam Flagg back to the Harrier."

"Aye, sir."

"What is that green shit, anyway?"

Tillean was excited by it "It's a clever weapon. It's an artificial piece of DNA. It would effect most humanoid species that I know of. It's designed to be adaptable to a large number of different types of DNA analogs. I'm not certain what effects that it's designed to have, but the people who made it weren't stupid. It has receptors for an artificial enzyme that will break it down. I suppose that they wanted to be able to neutralize it themselves, if necessary."

"And you came up with that analysis in less than ten minutes?"

"I did my bio-genetics thesis on a similar design." She saw the looks on all of our faces "It was hypothetical, of course!"

--

Later, everyone had been dosed and recovered from the effect of the green dust. Li'ira had to be detoxified from her overdose of pain killers. When she regained her sobriety, she was livid and bristled about it for quite a while.

Flagg was mellowed out on sedatives of his own. The human body was not designed to run in overload mode for more than ten straight minutes. Dr. Flynn repaired all the damage to his hands and fingers from trying to force his way through the airlock door. She reported that he would need a good night's sleep and then he would be reliable. She mentioned with relish that he would be stiff and easily tired out for another two or three days.

--

"The Romulans have a dual command structure in their ships." Flagg was telling me. "The Captain and the Political Officer share command authority, although it's divided along political and operational lines, supposedly. Each officer has a mechanical key which turns a lock on the bridge. The Romulans are paranoid and work extra hard to make these keys difficult to duplicate and the locks hard to pick."

"The Federation has never recovered a political officer's key. We might be able to duplicate one, but they change them faster than we could duplicate one."

"If both locks are tampered with, the ship self destructs. If the Captain's key is tampered with, the command and control computers are erased, although data banks might remain. If the Political Officer's key is tampered with all data is erased from the ship's computer although the ship remains operational."

"Nice guys."

"Yeah, Orwell would've felt right at home."

--

A few minutes after that, we found the crew of the Et-Tu. Working on the assumption that they had been affected by the green dust, but hadn't been able to counteract it, I had the Harrier scan for debris within a thousand miles of the Romulan ship. If we found any debris it was to be scanned for organic compounds.

Starship sensors are designed with certain odd blind spots. It's not in the angles they cover, or spectrums that they can see, or how fast the computers integrate the data. It's in what they are programmed to recognize. It's in the way the designers thought. We might have actually hit some of the crew of the Et-Tu while we approached on impulse power. They were dead and floating several thousand meters away from the Et-Tu. The Harrier never noticed, because organic beings don't reflect EM radiation very well. Living organic beings tend to give it off, especially in the infrared spectrum. They show up well against blank, cold space.

The Harrier saw the dead Romulans as small bits of harmless space debris, not very dense and no challenge at all to the navigational deflectors. Automatic systems could easily deal with them, and did so.

Now that we knew what to look for we saw them. 175 dead Romulans. It was grotesque and spooky.

We found the Captain of the Et-Tu. He had the time and presence of mind to put on a space suit before leaping out of the Et-Tu. His name was Zadask. Eventually he told us the whole story.

Once we found him, I sent a shuttle craft to retrieve him. He had been contaminated by the green dust and had eventually panicked inside his suit. He used up all of his air, about a four day supply and then died, and just sat in the suit for fifty years.

Dr. Flynn did the post mortem and she seemed a little green when she was done. Zadask had his command key with him inside the suit.

We found the Political Officer in a similar condition, except, rather than give in to the panic, he had opened his face plate and had died of vacuum exposure. He looked like an ancient mummy. He didn't have his command key with him, and we never found it. He might have disintegrated it, or he might have thrown it away from his body as he left the Et-Tu. We would never know.

--

The Captain's command key unlocked the controls of the Et-Tu and the Captain's personal computer and files. The Et-Tu erased all history, language, codes and recognition codes for the Romulan Empire. All operation and navigation records. Everything. The Et-Tu forgot everything about where she was from, and where she had been.

Zadask had left his log and a fairly large data file in his cabin, where the Et-Tu's self induced lobotomy could not erase it.

--

"I don't know who you are who have found this. It is my fondest hope that you are Romulans. If not, then I bring you the greetings of the Romulan Empire. I have left this record behind as a warning. There is a danger that threatens nearly anyone. We in the Romulan Empire have been fighting a terrible war since 2279 with the Kliges'chee. They are a race of rapacious cannibals who eat sentients."

Zadask was seated in his office, wearing his space suit. His features were drawn and pale. He looked like he was on the verge of collapse. He was fighting the green dust and it showed.

"In 2307 we were hard pressed by the Kliges'chee and felt that soon we would have to place all effort and concentration into the effort to overcome the Kliges'chee in order to win." "As part of that effort we of the Et-Tu have been sent on a mission to circumnavigate the Kliges'chee. It was our goal to find the limits of Kliges'chee expansion. Perhaps we might find another race to ally with."

"At least, that is what we thought." He looked tired, beaten. "It has been sixteen years and only now are we beginning to understand the full extent of the Kliges'chee. One year ago, we met a Kliges'chee battle cruiser, and we are a thousand light years from Romulus."

Zadask flipped a switch and we saw another ship. It looked like a group of stretched out dynamic walnuts. It was attacking the Et-Tu. After a brief engagement the two ships seemed evenly matched. The Et-Tu out gunned her opponent, but he was an excellent tactician, and used every weakness of the Et-Tu against her.

Then the Kliges'chee ship turned and fired a new weapon. it wasn't like anything I had ever seen before. The repeater screens showed the Et-Tu had lost most of her shields, and that her warp core was destabilizing.

The firing opportunity for the new Kliges'chee weapon left the other ship vulnerable and the Et-Tu shot him with a full barrage of disruptors and plasma torpedoes. The Kliges'chee ship didn't last long against that.

The victory was a phyrric one for the Et-Tu. She had to jettison her warp core and make for the nearest planet under impulse power. Their acceleration had to be desperately slow, since they didn't have that advantages of an their main power unit to accelerate with. They had to balance acceleration against what fuel they could scoop from the space in front of them.

The Et-Tu was not a Bussard ramjet as her primary function. She wasn't real great at operating that way.

"I should never have let that idiot Nevedek bring that sample of Kliges'chee space dust aboard. He thought we could use it against our enemies, the Federation or the Klingons. He could not grasp that our survival might depend upon them. The ship is saturated and the crew is even now spacing themselves. If the Kliges'chee were here now, they would beam my suffocating crew into their nightmare ships and eat them. At least they won't get that satisfaction."

"Following this message is a copy of our tactical data concerning the Kliges'chee. I hope that they have not won and devoured us. I hope that you will have a chance of defeating them."

He twitched and sat up straight. "I- I have to go now." His eyes were hollow he knew what was coming and was powerless to prevent it. Zadask hit the switch and his last message was over.

Following it was the tactical data, and copies of his logs. We could now trace the voyage of the Et-Tu.

--

As an operational starship, the Et-Tu was a lost cause. We studied her for five days, taking every scrap of data we could find. Flagg eventually informed us that Starfleet knew a lot about these types of ships and that they weren't in general use any more.

I had been worried. Six weeks ago, when the Harrier had been thrown out of Federation space, we had damaged some critical engine components. We were now running on back ups. The Et-Tu had some analogs of the parts we needed. They were very close to Federation equipment, enough to make me wonder. Flagg knew that the Romulans had been as successful in the intelligence arena as the Federation, and they had developed warp drives based on Klingon and Federation had-me-downs. That also counted battle loses.

We stripped the Et-Tu of everything that we might use or recycle. I didn't like it, but we weren't exactly in the best situation. Those parts and elements might just be the margin we needed to get home.

When we were finished, we reburied the Romulan Captain Zadask in space. We left him with a copy of his last message as well as our own logs up until that time. In case anyone ever found him, and was interested.

We destroyed the Et-Tu, so that no one else could take advantage of her corpse.

I ordered the subspace cannon readied and on the evening of the sixth day I sent the Et-Tu's final report home, to Romulan High Command. I didn't know the proper codes and the intelligence was fifty years out of date, but I didn't want to think that these Romulan space men had died for no reason.

Space is so large and points of light, warmth and life are so few and far between, you wind up identifying with anyone who goes out into it. They may have been Romulans and dedicated enemies of the Federation, but in the end, they came out here for the same reason that I did. Their country called, and the unknown needs to be uncovered.

Maybe it had been five decades, but Romulans live for a long time, and maybe the loved ones of these crewmen would able to sleep better knowing for once and all what had happened.

I also sent a copy of the message back to Starfleet Command. I had broken regulations by opening personal unauthorized contact with the Romulan Empire. I didn't want one of Flagg's people to report it. I also was impressed by the danger of the Kliges'chee and I wanted to make sure that Starfleet knew the extent of the threat.

We set course to the galactic south attempt to avoid Kliges'chee territory on our way back home.

-End-


	10. Chapter 10

REP: Star Trek: Outwardly Mobile (OCC - TNG era) 09 Rishan Pleasure Base 5, PG 1/1

Title: Star Trek: Outwardly Mobile 09 - Rishan Pleasure Base 5

Author: Jay P Hailey ST-OM, OCC - TNG era 09/54?

Rating:PG

Archive: Fine with me, just tell me where.

Disclaimer: Paramount owns all things Star Trek. I claim Original Characters and Situations for me.

Webpage HTTP://jayphailey. Trek: Outwardly Mobile

Episode 09: Rishan Pleasure Base 5

(Stardate 45378)

By Dennnis Washburn and Jay P. Hailey

It was stardate 99507.34 and that meant it was summer on the Planet Benson. I was out in the garden fighting with a piece of landscaping. Landscaping was not something that a ninety-five year old man needed to be doing, but I was tired of waiting for the contractors to bring power shovels out to do it.

I was grunting and straining with a large piece of rock. The anti-grav took away the weight, but not the inertia. I didn't have the thing quite dug out enough, but I was hoping that the rock could push through the dirt if I gave it enough momentum. It took a long time to get moving, and that gave me time to push a lot.

A shadow fell across me, and I stopped pushing and looked up. It was Katherine, my older daughter. This was all the excuse I needed to stop working. I stepped away from the boulder and climbed out of the pit I had dug next to it.

I looked at Katherine, and a weird sort of happiness bubbled up inside me. I was very proud of my oldest. She was slimmer than her mother and shorter. I saw her pale blue eyes and fine straight blonde hair. She was an adult now nearing her late thirties, I guessed. She was more fiery than her mother, too. Energy was her middle name.

I found myself grinning, and took her hand. We had adopted a more formal set of greetings and language when she entered Starfleet Academy, way back when I was still on active duty.

Then I noticed a fourth golden pip on her shoulder. Katherine had made captain.

"Well, Captain." I said.

"I came home to tell you." She said. She was solemn. Was she feeling the weight of her first command? I remembered the feeling. It had been forty six years since I had walked on board the USS Harrier, and I could still remember how nervous I had been.

It had been forty years since I had commanded the Harrier through that long desperate quest home. We weren't in great shape when we got home, but we did make it. There was something about that mission that was still bothering me after four decades. I couldn't put my finger on it. I knew by now that I probably never would. Once again, I put the nagging feeling out of my mind and concentrated on the present. As I got older, it was getting harder to do that, too.

"Mph." I said "They give you a ship, yet?"

"Yes, The Renegade."

I racked my brains, but five years of desk duty, followed by fifteen years of retirement had taken their toll. "Which one is that?"

"Nothing special, just a Nova class cruiser." She tried to sound casual, but I could almost see the stats and records flowing past her mind's eye.

"Don't knock it. The Novas are workhorses. They assign them everywhere." I reassured her, but Katherine didn't need more shop talk. besides, I felt dizzy and thirsty. My body was telling me to go sit down in the nice, cool house, put my feet up, and wrap my hands around a cool lemonade. My body had grown more demanding and loud as I had grown older. I didn't see any point in arguing with it.

My house was a bigger two story rambling affair, with all the signs of old people who had lived there forever. It had been twenty years. We went into the kitchen and grabbed some cool lemonade out of the replicator. It was a luxury I had refused to do without, although my true love felt that the artificial nature of the device was distasteful.

We went into the living room and I slowly lowered myself into my chair. I saw the concern in Katherine's eyes, and it irritated me. I wasn't crippled, dammit, I was just old. My joints resented sharp movements, and so it was more comfortable to move deliberately and with calculation.

"Have you talked to your mother, yet?" I asked, with a grouchy tone in my voice.

"She wasn't here, when I arrived, so I went looking for you."

Then I remembered. Someone had come up with a new revelation in microbiology, or genetics or organic chemistry or something. Sandra had put on her shining armor and had gone flying off on her steed to make sure the young squirt had crossed his T's and dotted his I's.

They were holding the conference at the University of Benson. Sandra was a published and retired professor with no tenure to sweat, so she routinely invaded the place and set them all on their ears. Many of the hidebound academics and stuffed shirts hated her. That's part of why she loved to go. Sandra was relentless in her insistence that the truth be the final arbiter of such matters.

I grinned and counted my lucky stars. Who knew who I would be without her?

"How about your sister?" I asked. I knew where Barbara was, roughly. She was on Earth, destroying the status quo with a relish to equal her mother's. Barbara was a performance artist, attempting to express her thoughts and emotions directly to other beings, by making music, or telling stories, or painting pictures in front of them. There was no audience at a performance of Barbara's, there were only hapless participants. I had been drug into a couple of these events, and Barbara hated it. My career had been composed mostly of nodding as though I had understood what was going on and then acting as though it were all under control until I figured out what was what.

Barbara said I ruined the groove on her performances. The truth is, my reactions to weirdness was practiced enough so that the other participants thought I had an idea and sort of gravitated to me.

Instead I bought the highly prized bootleg holodeck recordings of her performances and watched from a comfortable distance. Barbara would probably say something like the distance between the art and the participant was too great and that's what her troupe was all about.

"I missed her in Los Angeles." Katherine said "The whole performance moved to Mount Fuji and I couldn't wait."

"Better luck next time." I said. Rats, the recording would be incomplete.

We chatted a little more. Thirty years separated our careers in Starfleet, so there weren't to many common acquaintances for us to talk about. "How's Admiral Spaat?" I asked.

Katherine thought about it. "I haven't seen him in four years. Last I heard he was still commanding Starbase 1245." Spaat had been Katherine's first Captain. He was far too Vulcan to ever let our acquaintance color his reaction to Katherine, but I noticed that he had pushed her rather hard. This gave her the record she needed to make the fast track to Captain. Spaat had been her mentor. Never let a word of favoritism pass your lips, he made her earn it.

"Oh. Did you see Boothby while you were on Earth?"

"Yes. He is still puttering in the flower beds and growling at the cadets. He did remember me, though. Gave me a flower and made me promise not to tell anyone." Boothby was the El-Aurian gardener. For seventy years or more he had been watching the cadets at Starfleet Academy come and go, grouching at us and dropping just the right words when we needed to hear them.

Suddenly I was on the floor. It was cold and I hurt. "Katherine?" I called. It came out a whisper. She was right beside me, calling into her comm-badge.

"Medical Emergency! Medical Emergency, Reserve Center Please respond!"

"Starfleet Reserve Center, Benson, Please state the nature of the Medical Emergency."

"Man down, unknown cause..." She was telling them the basics, and stopped making sense. I drifted away...

I was still cold and hurt, but for some reason I was happy. I looked up and I was in Sandra's lap. That's why I was happy. What could be wrong there? "Hey..." I said

"Be quiet, They'll be here in a minute." She stroked the side of my head. I could almost relax, except I knew that there was something desperately wrong with me.

"Who? Who's here?" I managed

She just said "Ssshhh..." and kept hold of me. I always knew that she would. A moment of clarity swept over me, and I knew that the end was near.

"Listen." I said I tried hard and put a little steel in my voice. "You have to know. I love you. Remember that."

"I love you, too." She said. I could see that she understood what I meant. I saw pain in her eyes. I hated that. I would have given anything to take her pain away, except that I didn't have anything more to give.

My head throbbed brokenly. I tried to say more, but my words, and then my body failed.

I floated serenely in nothingness for a few moments and then I saw a bright light. It enveloped me...

--

I looked around, shocked. The after life looked just like the bridge of my first starship the USS Harrier. The nagging feeling I had carried around for more that forty years came back to me with a vengeance. The Harrier had been cruising through space more than a thousand light years from the Federation. We had been losing crewmen to an unknown long range transporter, and we had never resolved the problem.

Somehow I had gone on with my life for another forty years, never clearly remembering this.

There were all my old friends from the Harrier, and they looked just like I remembered them from that time. It was hard to tell with Li'ira, the Green Orions don't age externally the same way as humans do. There was Harksain Varupuchu I hadn't seen him look so fleshy in years.

If they looked just like the good old days on the Harrier, so did I. I had regained a lot of weight and my hands weren't nearly as spindly as I was used to.

"What, what.." I managed.

A flash and scream interrupted my thoughts I turned to see Flagg rolling across the deck. "NOOOoooo!" he screamed.

I hadn't seen Flagg since the end of the Harrier's voyage. I hadn't even thought that the nutcase was still alive. I was having one hell of a hallucination.

"I don't believe it! This is some sort of Obsidian Order trick!" Flagg rolled to his feet and crouched with a snarl.

I saw Stephanie Anderson pull a phaser out from under her tactical station and check the setting.

Flagg noticed this , but focused on me. "Hailey! You must be joking. I know he's dead! I killed him myself. I'll show you."

My new body was some what faster than I was used to, but I was never a match for Flagg. Fortunately, I could scuttle away from him long enough for Stephanie to stun him.

My brains started to turn over at this point. "I'm back on the Harrier!" I said, with awe.

"Are you all right, Captain?" Li'ira said to me.

I looked at her, swaying slightly. Anything I said at this point could alter the future, but I was sort of stuck. "Some sort of time warp?" I wondered.

A face appeared on the screen. He looked bright, chipper and slightly familiar. "And did you enjoy your experience, Captain Hailey of the Harrier?" He asked in a perky salesman's voice.

"My what?" I was confused...

"Your virtual lifetime! We offer the finest in detail and virtual experience. We pride ourselves in the fidelity of our creations."

Katherine, Barbara, Sandra, my whole life? NO!

"Ah, err..." I said.

"Thank you for waiting. Our systems have cycled again and it's time for our next group of customers to enjoy their virtual lives." The perky man on the screen said. With a flash Varupuchu, Spaat, Stephanie and Li'ira disappeared.

"I'm Chief Sub-Altern Lieutenant Carubo. Call if you have any questions, and thank you for choosing Rishan Pleasure Base Number Five for your virtual experiences."

--

I had a few days to adjust to the concept. I wandered the Harrier trying to keep the crew together. I wasn't easy. Most of the crew had seen themselves live through long and successful careers and then retire. We all had the delusions that we were retired admirals, statesmen and captains of industry. A shipload of chiefs and no damned Indians.

Most of the crew I spoke to understood and were willing to do their best on a good sportsmanship level, but there were a thousand subconscious differences between a crewman and an admiral good naturedly playing crewman. Morale and crew efficiency began to plummet.

The Harrier was sick ship. I began to doubt that we would be able to make it home. Making it home was essential to me.

Then some young snot who hadn't been through his virtual lifetime yet reminded me of the standing orders I had made forty years ago, back when I hadn't understood what the first few "Customers" of Rishan Pleasure Base Number Five were saying. The experience must be recorded. It must be described in detail for later analysis and examination.

--

I couldn't do it all at once. I began with my life following the Harrier's return to the Federation. It sounded like a pleasant daydream until I got to Sandra. The more I remembered our times together, the more I realized what a gaping hole I was. Without my true love I was not a whole person.

It felt as though she had died, or was suddenly taken away. I caught myself writing to her as I had thirty years ago during my previous deep space command.

She wasn't there. She never had been. Now I was alone, and I felt it like I never had before.

--

Talking about Katherine and Barbara was worse. Their whole lives were gone. Soon I was in tears and unable to continue.

--

In a few days of this, the Harrier was beyond being a wreck. Most of the crew was in a state of deep shock or mourning. We couldn't have made the Harrier cross five light years in that state.

In the engineering compartment, things were even worse. Most of the Engineers had experienced forty or more years of technological advance. They were frustrated to be working on such a relic as the Harrier. She was more than a century out of date in many ways.

We were essentially doomed, and I didn't know what to do about it.

--

"Are we ready?"

A chorus of "Aye, Captains." from the bridge crew answered me. The Harrier was as ready for space as we were going to get.

"Set course for-" I was interrupted by the salesman, again filling the main view screen.

"Why, you're not planning on leaving, yet, are you?" He said, surprised.

"Yes, we are." I said. I wanted to blast Carubo for what he had done to me. But there was no point. Even our sensors could tell that he was just an artificial life form. An automated maitre'- d.

"But the experience isn't finished yet!" He said "There's more to come!"

I was stunned. Had I been about to head us off with a critical part of the process unfinished? Might another trip to Rishan Pleasure Base Five set us to rights? Might I be able to see Sandra one more time?

"All Stop!" I said "I'll go, Carubo, but no one else!"

Li'ira's disapproval was thinly veiled. "Captain," She emphasized the title "Is it worth the risk?"

I turned to her "You know we won't make it like this." I wasn't addressing my crew. This was a panel of retired captains and admirals. "We need a break here. This is the closest thing I can see."

Varupuchu shook his head "You're still the Captain of the Harrier. We can't

afford to loose you. Anyone else is more expendable."

"I disagree." I said "Together on this bridge we have more than five hundred years worth of command experience. Our lowly-est Ensign is now an old space dog. Command is not what we're hurting for. But that's why we're hurting."

I spoke carefully "My decision is made. Go to yellow alert and raise the shields. Open a single beaming hole for the Pleasure Base to beam me over. When the Base signals it's readiness to send me back then a single beaming hole will be re-established and you will recover me. Then you will begin to move away from the Base. If it works out that I am better then we will return."

Everyone grudgingly gave me their agreement.

--

The bridge of the Challenger shuddered around me. Red Alert flashed through smoke and fire. We were taking a beating, but it was worth it.

The Kliges'chee had finally swamped the Romulan Empire and were now making in roads into the Federation. The Federation and the Klingons had proved too much together for the Kliges'chee to eat.

Although battles raged all across the front, I had seen the projections. I knew of no data to contradict the big computers at Starfleet Command. We were going to win in the end.

Two Kliges'chee ships moved to catch us in a crossfire. "Hard to port!" I barked "Begin evasive pattern Delta!"

The big Galaxy class ship rolled over and threw her bulk into a complicated evasive routine. The Kliges'chee fell prey to our escorts.

"Report!"

"Shields at 63. Damage to decks 34, 35 and 36. Main Engineering compromised, but the Warp Core is still good and back up controls are on line. Casualties are heavy in engineering."

My heart ached. My crew was dying. We were going to spend our best blood beating the Kliges'chee in a fight that was a foregone conclusion.

"How about the transports?"

We were covering the evacuation of the colony of "Four Corners". Its four armed inhabitants had their whole planetary defense out guarding our backs.

Soon the last of the non-combatants would be free of the war zone. The Kliges'chee would not eat them. The fighting was intense. The Kliges'chee didn't like refugees escaping and pulled out all the stops to get them before they were out of reach.

"No transports have been engaged by the enemy. They are five minutes away from the transwarp conduit."

"Arm quantum phase torpedoes, prepare for a fleet level bombardment." I grinned a feral grin. The Kliges'chee weren't going to like these...

"Breakthrough! Breakthrough!" The Tactical Officer shouted "Four, no five Kliges'chee ships have broken through the screen! They're headed for the transports!"

On another screen I could see the commander of the Four Corners Defense Forces begin to shout orders. I leaned into the screen and spoke firmly. If the Four Corners forces didn't follow the game plan then we'd be pulling defeat from the jaws of victory

"Commander Macabee! Hold the screen! Don't let any more of the bastards through!"

"But the other ships.." He began

"Don't worry, Commander, the Challenger will give them other things to think about."

The thought of my flagship tearing into the Kliges'chee obviously pleased Macabee. "Go get 'em Admiral!"

"Hard about! Plot a course to intercept the Kliges'chee ships and engage at full impulse! Engineering bring the impulse reactors to 105 percent!"

The Challenger leapt towards the Kliges'chee breakthroughs.

"Admiral," Lieutenant Vorkosigan said quietly, but urgently "We're still set for a fleet bombardment of quantum phase torpedoes."

There was no time to empty the tubes and rearm normal photon torpedoes. "Do the best you can." Was all I said. I knew the short Lieutenant would correct for my mistake.

"Permission to fire?" He said. I knew he meant that we needed to fire while the Kliges'chee were still far enough from the refugee transports for the transports not to be hit by the torpedoes

"Your discretion, Tactical." I gave him permission to fight the Challenger as well as he could.

The Challenger spat small warp speed projectiles at the Kliges'chee ships. As they got into range of the Kliges'chee ships they blossomed into huge explosions. Machinery inside the torpedoes took a fraction of energy of those explosions and used it to power massive subspace pulses.

Vorkosigan had given the transports plenty of room. Nevertheless, this was enough for the Kliges' chee to escape the worst of the effects of our new torpedoes. The edges of the effects were bad enough. The Kliges'chee were tossed and damaged while their warp fields and force fields flickered and died. One of them lost anti-matter containment and detonated like a small star.

The Challenger swept in behind the wall of destruction like an avenging angel, but the Kliges'chee were prepared and turned towards us. There followed a bitter knife fight as the Challenger and four Kliges'chee cruisers passed with in a hundred meters of each other, phasers cutting deep into hulls and plasma rams blazing like stars.

One Kliges'chee turned away to make a run for the transports, but his own singleness of purpose killed him, as Vorkosigan shot him with a full barrage of photon torpedoes.

I clung to my seat and tried to keep track of all that was happening to me and my ship. One of my screens showed the exterior situation, where the Kliges'chee ships were and what they were doing. The other showed a schematic of the Challenger and how we were doing. Neither screen looked good.

I routed helm control to my panel as the Conn exploded killing my helmswoman. There was nothing I could do, except to keep telling the computer to instigate the battle patterns prepared by Vorkosigan.

Soon helm was taken over by the auxiliary control and I was able to view the Challenger's status. I was shocked. Most of shields were gone and there was heavy damage all over the ship. More than half of us were dead already.

"The Transports are entering the transwarp conduit!" Vorkosigan shouted. "They're away!"

I triggered the address intership and said "All hands! All hands! The transports are away!"

Somewhere I heard cheers as the last Kliges'chee ship rammed us.

I came to on the deck of the Challenger's bridge. The lights were out and I was hurt. I could see the red glow of a few emergency lights glowing. This was mixed with the orange flickers of fires on the bridge. On the main screen I could see the tactical display. The Starfleet and Four Corners ships were making for the transwarp conduit with the Kliges'chee in hot pursuit.

"Warning!" The computer sounded urgent in a detached sort of way "Warp core breach in forty five seconds! Please evacuate!" I could see a few life pods from the Challenger moving away. I knew that they would be beamed aboard the Starfleet ships as they passed. Looking around I realized that I was the last survivor on the bridge.

I tried to get up and get to an escape pod, but I fell right back onto the deck. It was hard to breathe and my whole left side hurt. I shivered. The bridge seemed cold. The gravity swayed drunkenly as the energy ran down in the life support batteries.

My captain's chair was on the floor next to me, with the left side burned to a crisp. The right screen was still working. I laughed a little at that. Why bother?

Macabee was on the screen yelling "Hold on Challenger! We'll be there in a few seconds! Try to stabilize your warp core!"

My left hand was a mangled claw so I hit the comm switch with my right hand. He jerked at my signal. I was probably quite a sight. "Don't bother Dozier, We're done. Get through that conduit."

"But..."

"Don't be stupid! Move!" I shouted. I noticed my words were blurry. It hurt in a distant sort of way. I knew I didn't have time for pain now.

I thought of all I had done since we had come back with the Harrier twenty four years ago. I had commanded the Challenger and we had done some good work. Then the Kliges'chee had made their big push. I was promoted to Admiral and put behind a desk to make suggestions about fighting the Kliges'chee that no one listened to. At least, not until the Kliges'chee reached the neutral zone. I was still angry about something that had happened during the Harrier's voyage. I could never put my finger on why, but the feeling had dogged me for twenty four years that I had left something undone.

It was a good life and a death worth dying, I thought, as the Dozier and the last of the ships made it through the transwarp conduit to safety.

"Captain's Log, 76450.9, final entry. We have successfully escorted a refugee convoy away from the Federation Colony of Four Corners. We have been critically damaged and the ship is on the verge of destruction. I want to note the courage and bravery of my crew and especially Lieutenant Vorkosigan, without whom, the mission would have had a greater cost of lives..."

I finished the log entry, loaded it into the marker buoy and jettisoned it.

There was an incredibly bright flash...

--

I was back on the bridge of the Harrier, again. I almost didn't recognize the displays. I wondered if this was going to happen every time I died?

I noticed that the Harrier was also on red alert. "Report!" I barked.

"When you were beamed back four more people were taken by the base, Sir." Li'ira grimly replied.

Oh Ghod. I tried to remember what I was thinking twenty four years ago when I left the bridge of the Harrier...

Just for a second I thought of Sandra's face if I could tell her what was happening to me. Twenty four years had dulled that pain, but I still winced at the thought.

If we all went through that again, then we'd be sixty to a hundred and twenty or more years of subjective time out of date on our own ship. I might just recover from the second pass, but I didn't know if the Harrier was even going to leave orbit from Rishan Pleasure Base number Five.

"Hail Carubo."

As quick as a blink the smarmy representative for the station appeared on the main screen. "How may I help you. Captain Hailey of the Harrier?"

"Return my crewmen, now."

"But, their experience is not complete!"

"I don't care, send them back!"

"But, the process is not complete. I apologize for any inconvenience, but we can not be held responsible for any health or mental effects of an interrupted virtual life time. For that reason I must decline." He cut the connection.

"Are the shields still in place?" I asked

"Yes, Captain." Stephanie said. She was slow to respond. She had to double check that the shields she was seeing were the only ones available and that they were up.

"Battle stations. Bring us to point blank range of the Base." I ordered.

It took forever for the Harrier to show the green lights for each section that signaled readiness for battle. Eventually we were ready and the Harrier moved in close to Rishan Pleasure Base Five

"Arm plasma rams." I said

"Er... Captain, we don't have those."

"What do we have?"

Li'ira broke in "Captain are you sure you're okay?"

"We can't handle another pass through that thing. It's just more of the same."

Li'ira nodded

"Phasers and photon torpedoes armed, Captain." Stephanie reported.

"Is that all we have?" I was having trouble remembering the stats on the Harrier.

"Yes, Sir."

"Right, what are the defensive systems of the base?"

"None detected, Captain."

"Fire a single photon torpedo into it." I ordered.

Stephanie complied. The Harrier spat a torpedo at the base. It looked slow to me. The torpedo hit the base and absolutely nothing happened. The torpedo simply ceased to exist.

We stood and stared for a moment. There was no reason why that should have happened.

"I have a bad feeling about this." Tillean said

"Oh, hell." I said. I had the distinct feeling that we had just messed with some bad customers.

With no warning or comment a man appeared on the main screen. He was a dark skinned man with sculpted features that looked somehow odd.

"What is the meaning of this?" He said. "Explain yourself."

"I am Captain Jay P. Hailey of the Cha- Harrier, a Federation starship. We come in peace, but this machine has begun to damage our minds. We have attacked in the hopes of escaping with no further harm."

"I am Maro, the intention to safeguard this base. What are you doing in this area?"

"We are on a mission of peaceful exploration. We are in distress. Will you help us?"

"Hmmm. You are obviously not mature or developed enough to handle our amusements. Stand by."

--

I was back on the Bridge of the Harrier. So was every one else. I had the impression that we had been away, but I couldn't say where.

"Report?" I said

The crew quickly moved to their familiar positions. The sight filled me with joy although I couldn't say exactly why.

"All decks secure, no damage, although there have been some mysterious alterations in Engineering." Varupuchu reported

"Are we functional?"

"Yes, Captain."

A face appeared on our view screen. It was a dark skin man with sculpted features and a widows peak that would have done Dracula proud. He looked threatening and severe.

"Go away. You are not welcome here." He said with steel in his voice.

"I am Captain Jay P. Hailey, of the Federation starship Harrier. Will you please communicate with us?"

"No! You are not welcome. Go!"

"Are you certain?"

The figure grew grim. Alarms went off on Stephanie's tactical station and the Harrier went to red alert. "Incoming!" She reported. "Plasma Torpedo! Force Nine!"

I went pale. A force nine plasma torpedo would strip our shields off in a single attack and leave us a crippled wreck

"Evasive, warp power to the shields!" I shouted. Spaat moved to comply with admirable speed, but we were at point blank range. It was way too late.

The torpedo veered off at the last moment and continued off into space, detonating a billion kilometers away. The blast rattled the Harrier a little even so.

Another alarm sounded on Stephanie's board. "Anti-Proton beam! Six point five tetra-electron volts!" She said

We watched as the beam played towards us and then stopped inches short of our shields. Not that our shields would have slowed that beam even slightly.

"I trust my meaning is clear?" The man on the screen said

"Extremely!" I said "Spaat, get us out of here. Best speed!"

The Harrier ran from the alien base as fast as she could go.

--

Several hours later, we found the records and logs that told us the whole story. We listened as our own voices told of the events of Rishan Pleasure Base Five.

The Harrier had recorded four minutes during which Maro had transported every crew member off the Harrier, through our shields.

When we returned we retained no memories of these virtual lives, although I find myself dreaming of those images sometimes. Other crewmen have told me that they do, too.

I have only one regret. I wonder what this Sandra person was like? She sounded nice...

-End-


	11. Chapter 11

REP: Star Trek: Outwardly Mobile (OCC - TNG era) 10 - The Trudge, PG 1/1

Title: Star Trek: Outwardly Mobile 10: The Trudge

Author: Jay P Hailey ST-OM, OCC - TNG era 10/54?

Rating:PG

Archive: Fine with me, just tell me where.

Disclaimer: Paramount owns all things Star Trek. I claim Original Characters and Situations for me.

Webpage HTTP://jayphailey. Trek: Outwardly Mobile

Episode 10: The Trudge

(Stardate 45650)

By Dennnis Washburn and Jay P. Hailey

The USS Harrier warped through space a thousand light years from the United Federation of Planets. This was a large distance and it was going to take us about three more years to get home at this rate.

The worst part so far had been the boredom. For three months we hadn't run into anything of any interest. We couldn't detect anything more exciting ahead of us as far as our sensors could see.

I was reading the follow up reports to our last significant encounter. It was the planet Bandersnatch Six. The six didn't stand for the orbit number around the primary. This Bandersnatch was the sixth planet so named in the Federation archives. However, the person who discovered the planet had the right to name it, by ancient custom. Bandersnatch Six really deserved the name. It was in an eccentric orbit, perturbed in and out of the life zone by a nearby gas giant. The weather on Bandersnatch Six ran in seven hundred year mega-cycles. We caught it in a summer-like period.

The life forms on Bandersnatch had to adapt to a huge variety of climates and conditions. They had adapted with a vengeance. Most of the life forms of Bandersnatch Six were either tough biological tanks or clever and deceitful shape changers. The natives fell into the latter category, a fact we didn't discover until it was too late.

Later we camped out on an island that could not support any sizable life forms and had our shore leave anyway.

The life sciences people and the planetary geologists had a field day at the time. They piled up enough raw data to keep the Vulcan Academy of Science or the Smithsonian Institution busy for years.

Now, they had a break to do a lot of the analysis on the Harrier. It had grown boring. Now there was just the unglamorous cataloging and sorting of data.

The sociologists were busy, too. We had encountered the Kurr Association. They occupied ninety-seven planets inside an energy bubble of fantastic proportions. Five hundred years before the Harrier found them, the Kurr had been visited by energy beings known as the Harmon. The Harmon declared the Kurr Association to be ethically deficient and englobed them in a bubble of energy nearly one hundred light-years in diameter.

The Harrier couldn't even touch the bubble. The Kurr had been trying to unravel the thing for as long as they had been inside of it, and had found nothing that would work.

It was a sad and sobering sight. The Federation could have wound up in the same condition if the Organians or Q had been just a little less patient with us. The Kurr had been developing their ethics on a crash basis every since. A lot of what they had invented mirrored things in the Federation. Mostly the contributions of the Vulcans, who had also felt coerced by circumstances to develop their ethics.

The Kurr had developed and exploited every free inch of the space inside their globe, but they were suffering from a cultural claustrophobia. We had signed a treaty of principle with them and then the Harrier had exchanged archives with the Kurr Association.

The histories and societies of the Kurr Association were varied and interesting and they had a few historians talented enough to make the history fun reading.

There was only so much reading, study and cataloging work the crew could do as we chugged along, one light year a day, every day.

The Engineering Department of the Harrier had kept the ship running smoothly for nearly seven months of our trip so far. Ruezre Vengla, the Chief Engineer had used a bag of tricks that had surprised and delighted me with their ingenuity. If we assumed that nothing kept happening until we reached Starbase 24, the we were very likely to make it there. Making to within rescue distance was almost a certainty. If nothing else happened.

The psychology of a crew locked up in an enclosed space for a long time is interesting, but I didn't like watching it while there was no safety net or support system around us.

The first hint of excessive boredom overtaking the crew was the Dungeons and Dragons scenario happening on the Holodeck. Many of the crew had joined this scenario, playing in small groups at different times. It had grown extremely complex and the players were taking it very seriously.

There had actually been a fist fight in the ship's lounge concerning events in the game. It seemed petty and trivial at first, and the crew members involved were honestly abashed at how they had acted, but it was an important sign.

Another sign of increasing boredom was the martial arts tournament. There was one of these on nearly all starships at one time or another. The crew was trained and capable in a number of ways, and those who were trained in hand-to-hand combat wanted to test their skills against each other. During this time on the Harrier, it was a weekly occurrence, with betting and standings and rivalries developing.

Two surprises to come out these bouts were Spaat, our Vulcan Helmsman, and Yoshio Yo, the young ensign who acted as Li'ira's executive assistant. Spaat was a big man, and being Vulcan naturally somewhat stronger than a human. His martial art was the Vulcan classic, Tal-Shyia. It was a passive art, based on the idea of turning an opponent's attack against him. Lots of leverage and throws. Spaat had several advantages and rose near the top of the standings. Yoshio Yo, or "Yeoman Yo" as he was popularly known, turned into a friendly, self depreciating, enthusiastic whirling dervish. No one could touch him.

Yo was of generic Asian descent. When I asked, he said that his mother was Chinese, his father was Japanese, and they had lived in the big industrial cities of Korea before he went to live with his grandfather in the jungles of Vietnam and Cambodia. He called his martial art Tae Kwon Leap, and claimed that his grandfather had taught it to him over the years in the Southeast Asian jungles. He quickly began classes in the highly philosophical martial art.

Seamus McTague, the Ship's Counselor tried everything he could think of to divert this energy into other means of expression, with a certain amount of success. He had birthday parties and planetary holiday celebrations all kinds of other excuses to get together and cut loose.

Typical of any small community, the Harrier immediately developed cliques and "in-crowds". There were entertaining and gossip-worthy incidents and who was sleeping with who became an engrossing subject for conversation.

There was even a little bit of a stir when I started dating the Chief Medical Officer Patricia Flynn. We had found that we shared a similar enough frame of references for discussions to be fun, and varied enough experiences so that we didn't run out of stories. After several late night bull sessions and a certain amount of hemming and hawing, we managed to get each other into bed.

It was fun, but we knew it was a temporary arrangement. When we got back to Earth, Patricia Flynn was headed back to the United States Coast Guard and her true love, the study of the oceans.

I found that Patricia Flynn had only become a medical doctor because she had never been to the ocean until she was doing post graduate work at the University of Southern California at San Diego. She had joined the U.S. Coast Guard because they were the organization that was still exploring the oceans of Earth. Patricia had joined as a medical officer because that offered her a quick commission, and the opportunity to get into the oceans right away.

While at Bandersnatch Six, Doctor Flynn organized an impromptu oceanographic department on the Harrier, and conducted an investigation of the oceans there. Since then she had been supervising the processing of the data they had gathered, and was teaching a popular oceanography class on the Harrier. I tried to make it to that one when I could.

--

I had found a private place aboard the Harrier. It was a relic of the ship's old design. Years ago the ship's replicator was much larger device. Now, we had small stand up units in most quarters and scattered in convenient locations around the ship. Most of the space dedicated to the large old device had been reclaimed for other uses, but there was a remaining jefferies tube on deck ten.

It began in what was now a store room, and proceeded a few feet to a turn. Just around the turn the Jefferies tube dead-ended.

Although, as Captain I had the run of the ship, and could order any section evacuated that I pleased, there was always the knowledge that the Harrier and her crew were watching me. I could be alone in any room or section, but I could not be solitary.

There was a certain thrill to hiding away. No one knew where I was, when I was in there.

I went there with a book that I was reading. It was Ford's History of the Klingons. I had read it before, but I was going through it again for details that I had missed, and for relaxation. It was something that I wasn't obligated to read.

As I scrambled through the jefferies tube I heard a noise from the cul-de-sac ahead. It was a soft sobbing. I peeked around the curve and saw Tillean Darvon Ahk curled up in a corner, her head down on her knees crying bitterly.

I was stunned. Tillean was always so up-beat and enthusiastic. Every task was a challenge; each encounter was an adventure. I never thought that I would see her so miserably unhappy.

"Uh, ahem." I said, unsure of what to do or say. I was a little uncomfortable. Tillean was in my hidey hole.

She started and looked up. A PADD fell out of her curled up lap, and fell on the floor. I noticed a face on the PADD. It was a picture of a blond haired boy. His grin spoke of frogs, and sticking slimy things down girls' shirts, and major mayhem, everywhere.

"Oh, uh," Tillean sniffed and stood up quickly, wiping her eyes, and trying to put her face back on. "Captain, I-"

I bent down, picked up the PADD. The boy had grown on me instantly, but I didn't look at it for long. I handed it back to her and said "Who's this?"

Tillean replied "That's my son, Captain." Tears welled up in her eyes.

"Oh, I, uh..." I was acutely embarrassed.

Tillean grinned ruefully, despite the tears rolling down her face. "It's his birthday, today."

"Ah, oh." I was at a loss. Tillean gestured aimlessly and looked like she was going to leave. I was curious, and couldn't resist. "Tell me about him."

We made ourselves comfortable, and she told me the tale. Her boy's name was William Darvon Ahk. Today he was seven Earth years old. He hung out with a boy named Adam Mark, and they got into trouble the likes of which I have only read about in Mark Twain books.

Tillean knew of the dangers of starship assignments, and left the boy with her two sisters. Tillean was one of triplets. They lived with the extended Mark clan on a mixed Earth/Vicharrian colony planet known as Beauville. The Mark family had colonized the planet with a cooperating colony from Earth.

Tillean told me of a brief liaison with a man named Richard Russell, during an investigation on their colony world. She had become pregnant and had her son with the support of her extended family. She refused to divulge the identity of her son's father, claiming that it was no one else's business. She told me that Russell was a Starfleet Ranger, a job description with a high mortality rate. He was doing exactly what he wanted with his life, but Tillean knew that he would try to do the "Honorable" thing if he knew of his son. She was afraid that he would wind up resenting the boy and herself.

So Tillean held out on her son and his father. She said that she had realized the essential unfairness of the arrangement and had intended to reveal the truth to all concerned parties upon the Harrier's return.

Now that the Harrier's return to known space was in doubt, Tillean felt as though she might have cost William both his mother and father. No one else in her family knew the identity of William's father.

Tillean cried, and I reached out and held onto her, comforting her as best I could. After she had cried herself out, she straightened up and played the video clip that the PADD was holding.

She told me of William and Adam stowing away on a freighter, in an attempt to travel the galaxy in search of adventure. When they realized how long it takes a freighter to get anywhere they had sheepishly surrendered to the merchant crew and were returned.

Using old engineering schematics and a hot-wired replicator, the two boys had built a giant dinosaur robot, and had made a sincere attempt to terrorize the colony's capital city of Beauville.

Under the mistaken impression that some corporate investors were actually secret agents, the two boys had kidnapped the people and held them hostage for a couple of days until they were rescued by the older members of the Mark family.

"I was going to say that I was sorry that you didn't bring him with you, but now I'm not so sure." I said.

Tillean laughed. "It was for your protection as much as for his!"

I didn't feel too comfortable having her dump her problems on my shoulders. I didn't mind being a father figure for Tillean as long it helped her make it through the voyage. What else is a Captain for?

--

A couple of days later, we sighted the planet. It orbited an ordinary class G yellow dwarf star. The planet was right in the life zone, and showed lots of oxygen and water vapor in its spectrum.

This strongly suggested a class M planet, and so the Harrier turned slightly, to pass it and examine it.

Everyone was excited. This encounter offered an end to boring book keeping and paper shuffling.

As we went sublight near the edge of the solar system, we launched a probe.

Soon the data started to return from the probe to the class M planet. It was dead. There was no life to be found anywhere on the surface. It was just bare rock and sterile sea water and an oxygen-nitrogen atmosphere.

"But, that's impossible, Captain." Tillean said, happily. I knew what she meant. a breathable oxygen-nitrogen atmosphere was the side effect of a planetary ecology. It wouldn't happen without life present to cause it.

It was a pickle and Tillean was ready to unravel it gleefully. However, I had a suspicion. If the life which had caused the oxygen-nitrogen atmosphere was not present on the planetary surface, then I felt that they had arrived in the system in starships and had planted the atmosphere for their own purposes.

"What is the probability that this is someone's terraforming project?" I asked. Tillean's face fell.

Harksain Varupuchu, our Andorian Operations Officer looked thoughtful. "I can not say," He ventured "If so, it not being done by any technology we use."

"Please begin scans to confirm or deny the hypothesis." I ordered.

After several hours, the Harrier was approaching the planet closely enough to use our sensors directly on it. It remained mysterious. There was no visible mechanism for generating the oxygen-nitrogen atmosphere, and no life, period. There were no visible artifacts and no ruins. There were no beacons or buoys in orbit of the planet and no clues.

I thought about it and made the decision. "Retrieve the probe and set course out of the system."

That got me a hurt and disappointed look from Tillean, and a certain amount of exasperation from the rest of the crew. This was the first thing that had happened in about one hundred days, and I wasn't going to get involved.

I had two reasons. First, it simply would not be polite to trample all over somebody's "Work in Progress" and risk contaminating it with germs or micro-organisms from the Federation.

Secondly, with no visible mechanisms, I was afraid that it was a work in progress by an advanced race. While I had nothing against advanced races in principle, I remembered the lesson of the Rishan pleasure base we had run into some time ago. It had nearly destroyed us before we had any clues about what was really going on. I didn't want a repeat of that experience, so I left well enough alone, thank you.

After the probe docked, we went to warp speed and resumed our steady trudge back to the Federation.

--

Two weeks later, Harksain Varupuchu caught me on my way to the bridge. "Captain. I was wondering if you had plans for tomorrow evening?"

"Why, no, Commander."

"Then will you please do me the honor of joining myself and Tillean Darvon Ahk for dinner?"

"Er, certainly." I wondered what was going on, but I was too curious to say no.

"Thank you Captain. I will expect you at approximately 1800 hours, if that is convenient for you."

"That will do fine."

--

The next evening I arrived in front of Varupuchu's quarters. I was in standard uniform. I had fought the urge to wear my dress uniform. It felt as though that was what you wanted to wear into Varupuchu's personal space. I didn't know what he had in mind, and I didn't want to seem like I was pressuring him.

Tillean was there, in a short, black spandex body suit that left her legs and arms bare, and accentuated her trim body. over it she wore what seemed to be for all the world like a terry-cloth tabard, with large pockets and weird designs all over it. It looked indecently comfortable. She was barefoot, I noticed.

She saw me and brightened. "Captain! Did Harksain invite you to dinner this evening?"

"Ah, yes." I said. My uncertainty must have showed, because Tillean said "Is this the first time you've been to dinner with Harksain?" At my nod she illuminated "Relax, it's not a formal occasion. Mr. Varupuchu uses his cooking skills to provide positive feedback for the people he works with."

"Andorian cooking?" I thought, "Uh-oh." My previous experience with Andorian cooking came to mind. "Oh well," I'll just nibble a little and humor Mr. Varupuchu." It must have shown on my face because Tillean said "I think he'll be a better cook than you're expecting him to be."

Then the bell struck 1800 and we pushed on the door bell to Varupuchu's quarters. He answered and I was immediately put at ease about the formality issue. The normally dour and straight arrow Andorian was wearing a tie-dyed poncho of some sort of light material, and shorts. The poncho itself was short enough to leave Varupuchu's arms bare up to the elbow, and it didn't seem like it would interfere with cooking any. Varupuchu was also bare footed.

Varupuchu smiled a faint and serene smile and said "Thank you for being so prompt. Please come in and be at ease." He gestured grandly through the door way.

Tillean and I went in, and I had my first good look at Varupuchu's quarters. They had a very colorful motif, with multi-colored wall hangings and large pillows substituting for furniture in most cases. The main table was short, made to be sat at from the floor or a pillow or kneeled in front of. It looked like an ancient Japanese hippie lived there.

I was caught by the texture of the largest wall hanging, covering the inboard wall. As I got closer and really peered at it, I saw that it was made out all different kinds of materials and objects skillfully woven together. After a moment I got it. Andorians see through their antennae with sound waves, not unlike Earth bats or some sea mammals. The different textures might report as different colors or textures when viewed with sound waves.

Varupuchu's quarter also had a kitchen. He returned to it, and began to putter away busily. I saw him cooking, quickly with no wasted motions. He made it look easy, while he was doing it so quickly that I was unable to follow. He chatted with us idly as we found comfortable pillows and sat down. Varupuchu's idle chatter was thoughtful and engaging.

--

The meal was delicious. I couldn't believe it. Broiled lemon curry chicken, Strange sautéed mixed vegetables with a wonderful sauce, and light dishes from all over the Federation. I nibbled lightly until I actually tasted it, and then I ate with enthusiasm.

The conversation was light and wandered over several subjects. I was surprised that I was able to maintain my distance from certain subjects. Captains can have political opinions, we just aren't allowed to express them. It's considered rude, and thought to unfairly pressure the officers under the Captain's command.

The conversation would hit one of the places where I could not comment, and then move quickly on. It was fun to listen to as well as participate in.

As we finished the food, I had a chance to ask Varupuchu a question that I had been curious about since he had been assigned to the USS Harrier. "Mr. Varupuchu, I read in your records that you are considered a Hero of the Limrin Revolution. Would you care to tell me of it?"

--

The Limrin Revolution of 2343 was an interesting event to me. The planet Limrin had been a totalitarian colony from the bad old days on Earth. By the time it had been rediscovered by the Federation, they had built a sizable and stable society, Although it was not a fun one from the inside. Earth was required to take responsibility for it since it was a colony from Earth. Taking over the colony by force was out of the question. The Romulans in the hope making the thorn in the Federation's side more permanent had armed Limrin.

So it was carefully regulated in terms of interstellar traffic. Some humanitarian aid was allowed in, to try to ease the suffering of the oppressed populace.

Twenty five years ago the oppressed populace had thrown an open rebellion against the powers that ruled the planet. The rebels were out manned and out gunned, but skillful interference from intelligence agents on the ground, as well as an unknown number of free lance adventurers and mercenaries had thrown the issue open to random factors. In the end, the rebels won and petitioned for Federation aid and alliances while rebuilding. The intelligence agents and random other adventurers were declared "Heroes of the Revolution". They were honored on Limrin, along with their native born freedom fighters.

--

Varupuchu rolled his eyes and snorted derisively. "I assure you it was not as romantic as popular accounts have made it seem, Captain."

"That's all right. I haven't ever really been able to talk to anyone who was on the ground there."

"You would honestly do better to find someone who was on the Federation ships in orbit. They saw much more than we ever did. With out their interference from orbit, we would have been killed early on."

"I have spoken with certain crew members from one or two of the starships in orbit, there, but never anyone on the ground. Please tell me."

He sighed, "All right Captain, but I warn you, it's not a pretty story." I noticed Tillean was silent and watching both of us with great interest.

"I had gotten an apprentice spaceman's post on an Andorian Merchant vessel. I was seventeen and my antennae were still moist. The Xumec was Andorian in name, mostly. The crew were a haphazard collection of vagabonds, drifters and outsiders. We just pushed the ship from port to port, and most of the profit went to the corporate owners on Andor. It wasn't glamorous, but I learned a lot."

"We took a humanitarian aid contract from the Federation State Department. We ran in and out of Limrin a couple of times, but the contracts didn't pay especially well. The plasma injectors on the old boat were worn out. They needed to be replaced, but the corporate owners dragged their feet. They wanted one more trip on their ledgers before taking the Xumec off line for repairs."

"So we loaded up and took one more run to Limrin. We landed and unloaded all of our humanitarian aid. I know some of it was weapons from Starfleet Intelligence."

"How did you find that out?" Tillean asked.

"Our Chief Purser was Pang, a Golden Orion man. He discovered the illicit arms and diverted some of them. He had planned to resell them later for his own personal profit. This proved impossible, because the plasma injectors melted down as we powered up for take off. The Xumec was helpless until new plasma injectors could be sent from Andor."

"We sat there on the pad for a few days, until it became clear that something was up. The space port was under guard, and there were heavy troop movements. The news was even less informative than we were accustomed to. Our Chief Engineer was a Cygnian woman, who hacked into the government's secure data nets just for fun. If we had known she was doing this, we would have stopped her. Her activities counted as espionage and the penalty for that was harsh. However, you couldn't talk to Esha. She didn't care. She only wanted to see what was in there that they didn't want her to see. The first thing I knew, Captain Macenzie and Pang were handing out phaser rifles and telling us that Limrin Security were coming to take us hostage. They had some idea of using us for humanoid shields. Esha had read the orders as they were sent."

"We got lucky in that an Limrin Security transport truck was servicing one of the Limrin patrol boats near us. We abandoned the Xumec and hid in the truck, hoping to be driven through the cordon around the spaceport."

"We were driven out, all right, and straight into the palace of Wagner, the Autarch. We waited until night fall and slipped out of the truck. We didn't realize at first where we were, so we just entered the building, and sought cover. We encountered a few guards, but Macenzie gave them a story that we were mercenaries hired by internal security, because the guards were felt to be compromised. You would be surprised at how the guards jumped to prove their loyalty to us after he said that."

"We made the discovery that Wagner was a paranoid, when we found that the palace was riddled with bolt holes and secret passages. Between Macenzie's creative story telling, and Esha's walking all over their secure computer net, we managed to stay one step ahead of security for three weeks, while all hell let loose out side."

"Later I learned that the starships Enterprise-C and Hood were in orbit. They jammed the planetary communications and sensor nets. Esha used the confusion that this generated to her advantage ruthlessly. She never took the whole situation seriously. She felt that Limrin Security deserved whatever she could do to them, because they were too stupid to prevent it."

"We had to do interesting things like blow up the main combat information computer, when Esha tripped several security flags in it. On the other hand, Esha did get us forged requisition orders for the bombs we used to destroy it."

"More than half the staff of Limrin Security knew that we were in the building, but thought that we belonged there and so never commented on it."

"We diverted suspicion by framing high ranking officers and starting nasty rumors inside the palace itself."

"The situation got worse as the war went badly for Wagner. We had to disappear in the bowels of the palace for days on end, trying to avoid the massive security sweeps and extreme measures he took to protect himself. We were lucky, in that he thought his bolt holes were secret and so never told his internal security to search them. If he did, he would have felt as though internal security could eliminate him inside his hidey hole"

"Once we went to one of our favorite bolt holes, only to find Wagner already there. He felt that he was about to be assassinated by rivals for power, and so ditched his body guard and hid. We had to be careful to avoid him after that, inside the secret passages and bolt holes."

"Once the fighting reached the Palace, we took over the main combat command center and took most of the highest ranking military officers hostage. We felt that at least we could get the Federation ships to evacuate us in exchange for the high ranking officers."

"But, after about a day and a half, the Autarch surrendered and the revolution won. They found us in there, and named us Heroes of the Revolution.

"Those poor people don't realize that we were just trying to get out of it alive. If we could have assured our own safety by turning over the leaders of the rebellion, or by turning over the Federation weapons, we would have. But Wagner had a tendency to promise whatever you wanted until he had you in his power, and then he'd torture you to death as a spy."

"So we became Heroes of the Limrin Revolution, mainly by trying to save our own asses." He shook his head sadly. "There were a few of the so called heroes that retired to Limrin and sat back on their laurels. They let the population of Limrin lionize them for a living. The Limrin themselves feel that it's a worthwhile exchange, as long as these Heroes are content to avoid causing problems." He trailed off, quietly considering this ignoble fate.

"Why did you join Starfleet?" Tillean asked Varupuchu, quietly.

"Because I was tired of being part of an amateurish, aimless operation. The Limrin Revolution wasn't the first scrape I got into with the Xumec, nor was it the last. I had met one of the Humpback Whales of Earth during our travels. With her help, as well as old family contacts I got an appointment to Starfleet Academy."

"Maybe these things sound romantic and adventurous twenty-five years later, but at the time there was a constant awareness of disaster waiting for the least misstep. We were never far from being stranded or losing the Xumec, or dying. Most of them were because we weren't professional enough, or didn't think things through. We were just pushing junk back and forth, and skipping lightly from one disaster to another."

Varupuchu smiled "Give me Starfleet any day. At least what we're doing now matters in the long run."

--

Later, Tillean and I bid Varupuchu good night, and we walked towards our respective quarters.

"Captain, didn't you serve on the Enterprise-C before she was destroyed at Narendra Three?" Tillean asked.

"Yes. The Enterprise was my first assignment when I graduated from the Academy. I was a junior engineering tech aboard the Enterprise when we were at Limrin."

--

The USS Harrier warped through space a thousand light years from the United Federation of Planets. This was a large distance and it was going to take us about three more years to get home at this rate.

-End-


	12. Chapter 12

REP: Star Trek: Outwardly Mobile (OCC - TNG era) 11: The Kliges'chee, PG 1/1

Title: Star Trek: Outwardly Mobile 11: The Kliges'chee

Author: Jay P Hailey ST-OM, OCC - TNG era 11/54?

Rating:PG

Archive: Fine with me, just tell me where.

Disclaimer: Paramount owns all things Star Trek. I claim Original Characters and Situations for me.

Webpage HTTP://jayphailey. Trek: Outwardly Mobile

Episode 11: The Kliges'chee

(Stardate 45718)

By Jay P. Hailey and Dennnis Washburn.

The Kliges'chee came on screen and I stared for a moment. It would take some work to imagine a creature more ugly. He had about a dozen eyes. Each was different. Some were multifaceted insectoid eyes. Some were bulging sacks of goo that pulsated. Some were almost human. They were the worst, a piece of normalcy transplanted into something horrible.

The Kliges'chee's body was an indistinct mottled green blob. Several tentacles waved around it, almost as though they were separate creatures. Some of the tentacles even had tiny eyes of their own. The whole body was covered in a layer of thick, slimy mucous. The mucous formed thick spots and thin spots, and from some locations it dripped off the Kliges'chee's body.

The air visible behind the creature was a sickly green mist that hid the details of the bridge of the Kliges'chee starship. I knew that the green fog was actually a mix of methane and ammonia, at a temperature of two hundred and fifty degrees below zero Fahrenheit.

With effort I restrained my urge to scream and hide. Instead I said "I am Captain Jay P. Hailey of the Federation starship Harrier. We are on a peaceful mission of exploration. Will you communicate with us?"

The Kliges'chee seemed to think about this for a moment, squishing idly in his mucous. "You are the Federation?"

"Yes, we are from the United Federation of Planets."

"Do you fight the Romulans?" It asked.

This was a difficult question to answer. I didn't want to describe the Federation on the basis of our hostilities. The Federation was more a statement of principles than another generic player of galactic politics. On the other hand, the truth was less than idyllic.

"Yes, when we must." I allowed.

"We are the Kliges'chee! We wish an alliance with the Federation against the Romulans!" The creature seemed excited, but I couldn't say why I thought so.

"Err, that's a little abrupt. Let's talk about it for a while first and see if our aims are compatible."

"What's to discuss? If you fight the Romulans then you regard them as enough of a threat to take up arms against them. If we win against the Romulans, then they will not threaten either you, or me."

"I am not authorized to make such a treaty." I lied. "I will have to report back to my High Command, and get guidance back from them."

"Non Sequitur."

"I'm sorry. We seem to be having a communications problem. I must report back to my superiors."

"Please do so, and tell us what they say, immediately."

"Err, that's not practical at this point. The message carrying my report will take about six weeks to arrive, and then the Federation will have to consider the issue. Then their reply will take another six weeks to return to us."

"What method of communications are you using?"

"Err, we call it subspace radio." I wasn't giving away anything here. The Kliges'chee were using subspace signals to probe the USS Harrier.

"You are not now in contact with your high command?"

I didn't like the way this was going. "Not in real time, no."

"Then you are Rihannsu!" The channel was cut.

I stood for a moment as the questions bounced around in my mind. "Rihannsu" is a word in an old Romulan dialect. It means, roughly, "Romulan". He had called us Romulans. If he was surprised that I was not in contact with Starfleet Command, did that imply that he was in direct contact with the Kliges'chee high command?

My attention returned to the Bridge of the Harrier as I heard the report from Stephanie Anderson, my chief of Security and senior tactical officer. "They have raised shields! They are coming about!"

"Red Alert! Shields up!" Barked Li'ira, my first officer.

"His weapons are armed. I am reading a strange energy build up in an unknown device on the Kliges'chee ship."

A Romulan derelict that we had explored six months ago had held records of a device that had stripped the Romulans defensive screens away. It had been fired at them by the Kliges'chee.

"Rotate shield nutation!" I ordered. This tactic had been improvised as a defense against the Borg. The Borg had a tractor beam that drained the force fields of Federation starships in a matter of seconds.

The shields of the Harrier operated in certain electromagnetic frequencies like any energy. It was prohibitively expensive to block the entire electromagnetic spectrum at once, so the shields were stronger in some frequencies than others. These frequencies also had certain ranges in which they liked to vibrate. The frequency of the electromagnetic waves could be subtly changed to avoid having enemy ships tune their weapons against the weak spot in your shields.

By constantly changing the frequencies generated by the Harrier's shields, I hoped that the Kliges'chee "Shield Disruptor" would either not work at all, or for a greatly reduced effect.

The tactic had been mildly successful against the Borg, changing the failure rate of the shields from fifteen seconds to three minutes.

"Begin evasive pattern kappa!" Li'ira instructed Spaat, our Vulcan Helm Officer. He obliged and the Harrier began to dodge the incoming fire. We were at a dead stop relative to the other ship, and so did not move as quickly as I would have liked.

"Arm Phasers!" I said. I hoped that the sight of our weapons arming would give the Kliges'chee pause while he thought about it.

"He's come about! He firing!" Stephanie said. A strange blue globe of energy formed at the forwards tip of the Kliges'chee starship. It had a coruscating nimbus of energy around it. The blue globe detached itself from the tip of the Kliges'chee ship and flew over to us. It was certainly going to hit us. I gripped the sides of my chair as the projectile hit us.

The lights on the bridge flickered ominously and some began flashing or otherwise malfunctioning.

"A direct hit, Captain. Shields are down by eighty percent."

"Fire Phasers!" I said. We couldn't take another hit like that. The phasers of the Harrier lashed out. Destructive beams struck the Kliges'chee, and coruscated off his force screens.

"Direct hits. He's showing light damage to his forward sections. His shields are down to seventy-five percent."

"Continue evasive maneuvers, Mr. Spaat." I said. I was acutely aware of how badly our own shields had been weakened at that point.

"He's lining up for another shot. Sensors show a large disruptor like weapon mounted along his X axis, facing forwards." Harksain Varupuchu reported.

"Evade that!" I told Mr. Spaat. There was a reason that Federation Starships usually don't mount huge axial cannons. They can be difficult to line up in close combat.

The Harrier groaned and the deck seemed to tilt, as Mr. Spaat pushed my starship to her limits, trying to avoid the arc of the Kliges'chee weapon. An annoying beep sounded from Stephanie's board and then the Harrier shuddered.

"We've been hit. It was a glancing blow." Stephanie reported. "Shields down to sixteen percent. They are about to collapse."

"Phasers fire at will!" Again the phasers of the Harrier spit at the Kliges'chee. There were several hits.

"His shields are at sixty seven percent. He's got a plasma leak, but otherwise light damage." Varupuchu said.

"Mr. Spaat, get us out of here." I had an idea of how this was going to turn out, and I didn't want to be there to see it.

"Aye Captain, energy to warp drive."

The Harrier leaped into subspace ahead of the Kliges'chee.

--

The plasma leak kept the Kliges'chee from pursuing us until it was too late. We watched on long range sensors as the Kliges'chee ship failed to follow an evasive turn, and continued into space away from us. With relief we went to yellow alert and began to repair our damage. We were fortunate that no one on the Harrier was killed. None of the damage was too severe. We snuck away.

--

"It seems that we have just recently entered Kliges'chee space." Ensign Zuma said. He was the tactical expert on the Harrier. Stephanie Anderson's training as a police officer didn't give her a lot of experience at starship combat. Ensign Zuma on the other hand was natural talent in the field.

He was a thin, unimpressive man, with a nasal and annoying voice. I didn't hold it against him. His talents gave the Harrier an advantage in combat that she might not otherwise have.

"The ship seems roughly the same size as the Kliges'chee ship in the Et-Tu records, but the design has been significantly upgraded. It has several features that suggest its attack patterns and functions."

He went to a screen and called up a technical readout based on the ship we had seen.

"The main weapon is an axial disruptor cannon. From the energy signature you can see that it is nearly identical to a Romulan unit, except that the Kliges'chee model is much bigger and isn't fired with the same density of energy. It's as if it's a Romulan Disruptor unit that was built ten times larger and then fired at only twenty percent power."

That confused me. An energy weapon is only as good as the energy you can channel through it. Why build such a huge weapon and then only fire it with partial power?

"The rest of the armament is arranged along the two outrider pods. two mounts of two each of weapons that are similar to Romulan disruptor units. These are on a much more conventional scale and energy curve." He hesitated. "Except that they are too small. They would be of some value against shielded targets, but not as much as we might expect."

He looked around the table nervously wiping his palms on the legs of his pants. "Given the capabilities of the Kliges'chee shield disruptor weapon, I speculate that these outrider pod disruptors are weapons designed to chop the weapons and engines off a target ship once its shields are neutralized."

That was kind of reaching. "What possible point might there be in that?" I asked.

"Remember that Commander Zadask of the Et-Tu said that the Kliges'chee might beam his crew aboard and eat them?" Zuma looked nervous. "If you take that literally, them the function of the Kliges'chee ship becomes clear. It is designed to approach an enemy, knock down their shields with the shield disruptor. Then it closes in and takes their engines and weapons off with the outrider pod weapons. Then the Kliges'chee beam the survivors off and eat them. The axial weapon might be for planetary bombardment. I don't know that it would be all that useful in ship-to-ship combat."

I wanted to argue. On one level it made no sense. However, Zuma had a point about the design of the Kliges'chee ship that was too accurate to ignore.

--

Two days later the Harrier slid into stellar system that we had spotted. It was centered on a dim red dwarf star, the most common in the universe. The little red star had a large gas giant as it's only planet. This was basic move in starship combat. Gas giants had large and violent zones of electromagnetic disturbances and radiation storms. This made the sensors on the Harrier and any pursuing ships unreliable. We ducked into orbit around the gas giant in an attempt to lose any pursuit. The Kliges'chee ship had plenty of time now to call a warning to other ships or bases nearby.

Because of the effects of the gas giant, we didn't see the Kliges'chee moon until we were almost on top of it.

--

"Report." I said. We had been scanning the moon since we had stumbled onto it. The sensors weren't doing too much good, since they were badly muddled from the nearby gas giant.

"There seems to be a ring." Tillean, the Science Officer said.

We could see it on the snowy, intermittent view screen pictures. "The ring probably has a high metallic content."

"Are there any energy signatures?" I asked

"I can't tell precisely, Captain. I might be able to spot a starship in this mess, but anything less energetic would be difficult to spot definitively."

"How about life signs?"

"Probably not. Again I can't tell for absolutely certain."

"Yellow Alert. Raise shields. Take us closer."

It was a risk, but my curiosity was nagging at me.

--

The ring was destroyed Kliges'chee starships. There must have been thousands of them. We hadn't been able to spot the energy and left over radiation from the battle because of the interference from the gas giant planet, but the signs were all there.

The moon had once been fit for Kliges'chee, but had been bombarded into a wreck, the surface was chewed up, and the mix of gasses was all wrong. There were layers of frozen oxygen on the new surface. Oxygen at gaseous temperatures would have fried any surviving Kliges'chee on the moon. There were dead Kliges'chee in orbit among the wrecks, and littered all over the ground in the ruins of a huge Kliges'chee base.

We couldn't get a decent estimate of how many Kliges'chee had been killed there, but it was over ten thousand. The wreckage seemed about three years old. I wondered at first if the Romulans might have been involved, but there was nothing to suggest that. The wreckage contained only Kliges'chee ships, and the weapons traces could have all been Kliges'chee. True the main disruptor of the Kliges'chee ships was structurally similar to the Romulan model, but there were no plasma torpedo fingerprints or photon torpedo residues.

We quickly slid away from the battleground and headed due galactic south. We were headed out of the plane of the ecliptic for the galaxy. There were many fewer stars in this direction, but that meant much less reason for Kliges'chee ships to be there.

--

A week later we were still heading galactic south, but I had elected to visit type "G" stars and any class "M" planets along the way. We were still in need of new stocks of spare parts and supplies, as well as a friendly port.

We were approaching the first such star along our route. As we reached the edge of the solar system belonging to this star, we dropped out of warp and began scanning.

We spotted a class "M" planet in the second orbit out from the star.

"Yellow Alert. Set course for that planet, and engage at one half impulse power." I ordered.

Over the next four hours we scanned the planet as we approached. It was inhabited by a sentient species, and they had a certain amount of technology visible.

--

The Harrier was at an extremely ready version of yellow alert. We were nervous about running into a group of Kliges'chee ships. Everyone wanted to be on their toes in case the Harrier had to run for her life.

"Captain, we're being hailed." Stephanie said.

"The planet?" I asked.

"Yes, Captain. The signal is addressed to us, but it's being carried by a primitive radio carrier wave."

"On screen."

The screen fuzzed for a moment while the computer sorted the signal out, and then a face appeared on the screen. They were humanoid. They had a complicated set of cartilage ridges along their nose.

"Alien ship! Identify yourself!" The man seemed tense and on a hair trigger.

"This is the starship Harrier. We are on a mission of peaceful exploration. Will you communicate with us?"

He waited. I realized that the carrier signal was traveling at the speed of light and would take a few moments to reach him. Idly I thought of changing the way I introduced the Harrier. The standard phrasing I used seemed more an invitation to trouble than anything else.

"Thank God! Please come into orbit and maintain radio silence until a tight beam can be arranged." The man's face was beaming happily.

"Agreed." I said and then motioned to Stephanie to cut the transmission.

"I have a bad feeling about this." Li'ira said.

--

"I am Defense Minister Nook." The man on the screen said. His appearance screamed "Jarhead!". His hair was cut in a short bushy cut and his back was ramrod straight. His uniform was crisp and incredibly precise, with much symbology on it.

"How many are in your flotilla?" He asked.

"Er, we are alone. We are on an exploration mission." I explained. Nook's face grew grim.

"We would like to discuss an alliance and technical advice for our military."

"Hmmm. That's a little premature. Can we meet and discuss it at further length?"

"Yes. That is a job for more civilian officials, in any case. We will contact you again." In his crisp, military style, Nook cut the channel.

--

We agreed to the meeting. The people were called the Murachi, and their planet was called Murachi. They seemed in something of a hurry.

Their shuttlecraft was a larger fusion powered affair. It was good design, but not an advanced one. It landed in the Harrier's shuttle bay and as soon as the atmosphere was re-established, the Murachi representatives came aboard.

There was Nook, the Defense Minister, Suarin, a member of the Elected Council, and Crelose the Minister of Culture.

Their Marine bodyguards suspiciously eyed the Starfleet Marines that I had set out as an Honor Guard, but stayed with shuttle at a word from Nook.

We adjourned to the conference room and the representatives got right to business.

"We were conquered by the Kliges'chee thirty years ago." Nook was telling us. "They swept in swiftly, and destroyed all of our space vehicles. Then they bombed our cities and systematically destroyed our military. Then they called us and demanded immediate and unconditional surrender. The whole war lasted just over one day." He seemed bitter. "They demanded that we submit to the kidnapping of thousands of our citizens. They informed us that they were prepared to destroy all life on our planet and just go find someone else to

conquer if we gave them any reason to believe that we were resisting them."

"Since then, Kliges'chee ships visit once or twice a year. They arrive in orbit and randomly beam our citizens to their ships and then eat them."

"We lost five thousand people, last year." Crelose said. He was a distinct contrast to Nook. Where Nook was a military man through and through, Crelose looked like some sort of academic. He wore a rumpled sweater and old, baggy slacks. His manner was quiet and somewhat personable. The number of Murachi people lost seemed to genuinely sadden him.

The other representative, Suarin, was a born politician. He grinned upon being welcomed aboard the Harrier. He shook my hand, and seemed to want me to feel as though he were my true friend, right away. Any moment I expected him to try to sell me something. I was not disappointed.

"We are in a bad position, but don't think that we're purely a charity case." He said "We could be very good, loyal and profitable allies."

"Listen," I said. "I am sorry to hear of your situation, but my ability to change it is extremely limited. The Harrier is a lone ship. We couldn't liberate you from the Kliges'chee by ourselves, and there probably isn't going to be a Federation fleet in the area for quite some time." I was thinking of what the Federation Council might say if asked to fund a rescue mission to this planet. The fleet would take nearly three years to get here, if they didn't stop along the way. I mentally arranged the transports and tenders necessary to support a large fleet. Then I acquired the starships and the ground forces. Then I bought the two or three Starliners needed to give the Spacemen, Soldiers and Marines a place to go for R-and-R during the long trip.

It was hideously expensive. Add to that the fact that if the fleet was defeated or surprised by enemy forces or a strange phenomenon, then you'd have scattered and possibly damaged ships in the same condition as the Harrier was in now.

All this to fight a war against an enemy that didn't directly threaten the United Federation of Planets or have any declared hostilities with us.

I could almost hear the gales of laughter from the council chambers now.

On the other hand I could understand how awful it must be to be a Murachi and know that aliens could beam you up and eat you and that your world was powerless to do anything about it.

"I'll see what we can do." I said. I couldn't stand to leave these people without any hope at all.

--

We found out why the Murachi seemed to be in such a hurry. They were deeply afraid that if the Harrier was discovered in orbit around their planet by the Kliges'chee that it would be taken as evidence of resistance. The Kliges'chee promised that they would then eliminate all life on Murachi in that case.

So we quickly taught the Murachi about the basics of subspace theory and left them with some technical data. This was about what they might get if they captured a Kliges'chee ship, with manuals and basic educational books. Again I had violated the Prime Directive.

In this instance I didn't think that the Prime Directive was directly applicable. If a natural or self-made disaster was about to eliminate a planet full of sentients we would try to help, out of sight of the natives. However, if we couldn't do anything without revealing ourselves or the existence of life in outer space, then we were obligated to let them die. However, the Murachi had already been informed of life in space and many of the ways of doing things that were considered advanced like subspace scanners, and transporters.

This was not the usual interpretation of this rule. Fifty years ago the Cardassian Union had occupied Bajor, a planet with an old and advanced humanoid race. They had space travel for thousands of years. Starfleet and the Federation had spent a couple of years dithering and then decided that it was an "internal" matter and backed off.

Bajor was now a downtrodden and wasted planet oppressed and stripped by the Cardassians. But the Federation had postponed a bitter and expensive war with the Cardassians for another thirty years.

Therefore, the guiding principle behind interference with an outside invader was actually a matter of expense and convenience for the Federation. The Murachi were certainly an inconvenient case, but I made a point of not committing the Federation to any further aid.

Instead I invited the Murachi to send a group of delegates with us to the Federation Council. This was a gesture, I knew what the Federation Council's answer would be. I also knew that it would be years before the Murachi left behind knew, if ever. They would have hope.

The Murachi decided to send Nook, the Defense Minister, Suarin, the Politician, and Crelose the Minister of Culture. Crelose was actually fun to have. He was a Murachi historian and sociologist. He couldn't wait to see the different races and cultures aboard the Harrier close up. Suarin immediately began to lobby the crew for support of an alliance. He adapted reasonably well to the Harrier also. The odd man out was Nook. The only people he understood at all were the Marines. Away from them his social integration was minimal.

The longest part of our mission was taking complete copies of all the Murachi archives. Crelose had been collecting the works of Murachi civilization and culture and squirreling backups away in case they were needed. We got copies for the Federation Archives, just in case everything went wrong.

We left Murachi two weeks later, never having spotted a Kliges'chee ship. Once we had gotten away from the planet, I let the delegates in on the whole story. They were disturbed to find that we were lost and had no idea what might lay between us and home.

--

I was in the lounge of the Harrier, eating lunch when Crelose came to me and said "Captain, may I have a word with you?"

"Certainly, Crelose. May I order you something?" Crelose was very good at sociology, especially socialization within groups. Most of us were on a first name basis with him already.

"I have heard, what do you call it? Scuttlebutt? Yes? Well, I have heard scuttlebutt that says you think that you are near the edge of Kliges'chee space?"

"This has been our assumption."

"This is not so. We are currently well within the Kliges'chee sphere of influence."

"How do you know this?" I couldn't imagine where he might come up with that information.

"Our military intelligence analyzes the ships that stop at Murachi diligently. They estimate that Murachi is located near a routine Kliges'chee patrol route and that the route takes nearly one year to complete."

"Oh." If I believed what Crelose was telling me, then the Harrier had stumbled much deeper into Kliges'chee space than I had thought. If we continued to stumble along with the same luck, we might make it out of Kliges'chee territory. If we were unlucky we might stumble into a fleet.

"There might be an alternative," Crelose said.

"What's that?"

"According to our most ancient legends, a race of gods named the Harmon live near the largest blue star that rises in our night sky. We were going to send a scouting mission there before the Kliges'chee conquered us."

"The Harmon?" That was the name of the beings that had englobed the Kurr Association. If it was the same bunch I had to go and try to get them to reconsider the fate of the Kurr.

The Kurr were a group of ninety seven allied worlds that were trapped inside a huge one hundred light year wide energy bubble. The were a nice bunch of people, with a lot in common with the Federation. If the Federation had been unluckier the Organians or the Q might have done the same to us.

--

It took just a few minutes for stellar cartography to narrow down the location specified in the Murachi legends. The big blue giant star the legends named was ninety light years away, almost directly perpendicular to our current course. Was this further into Kliges'chee space? None of the Murachi delegates knew.

We set course for what I hoped was Harmon space that afternoon.

Essay:

The Harrier: An Alternate Universe of Star Trek

By Jay P. Hailey

These are a few notes of background material for my Star Trek stories, The Voyage of the Harrier.

The Harrier began its life as a series of role-playing scenarios. Being a die hard fan of both Star Trek and Role Playing I have long dreamed of finding a worthy campaign of Star Trek to play in. My friend Dennnis Washburn was an avid role player (He taught me all I know on the subject), but not as much of a Star Trek fan as I.

Hearing my pathetic pleas for a good game of Star Trek, Dennnis went ahead and created the Harrier game.

I won't bore you with the details of how we worked it out, but I will say that it was an interesting experience and that at the time I took extensive notes.

Later I was trying to write stories. I like to write Star Trek, but very often it is difficult for me to come up with a plot that interested me. All the good ones seem to have been done, as well as a lot of bad ones.

Seeing the characters and events of the old Harrier Game, I realized that with a little alteration and rewriting of the events as role played, the Harrier might make for an interesting story. So, With Dennnises input and permission I have begun to relate the noteworthy events of the 1992-1995 USS

Harrier/Discovery Game.

Dennnis came up with the plots, really. I have rewritten the games he GMed as stories adding the characterizations and insights into how everyone was feeling and thinking at the time. For this I am indebted to Dennnis. I try to write the story to be as entertaining as possible, but the basic idea that drives it in each case is Dennnises.

We started with the "Holly Hop Incident." It was named for the episode of Red Dwarf late in it's second season. It's the one where the crazed AI, Holly sent the Red Dwarf to an alternate universe where the sexes of the main characters (The PCs if you will) were reversed.

The similarities were that both "Holly Hop Drives" were instant elsewhere drives that malfunctioned and sent the hapless starships to an alternate universe.

Following another adventure, the notes on which were lost, Dennnis decided to lose the Harrier in unknown space. He sent the ship 30,000 light years away from the Federation, halfway across the Galaxy. He later said that the idea of a lone ship with no back up trying to deal with the unknown and what they did with their "Federation-ness" and how they survived seemed rife with story telling possibilities.

Sound familiar? It's the premise for Star Trek: Voyager. My initial fear about the Harrier stories was that they might be viewed as a rip-off of Star Trek: Voyager. Dennnis invented the scenario some time before the series was announced and possibly before they thought of making it at all. My copy of the Star Trek Encyclopedia says that Deep Space Nine was developed and announced in 1992/1993, and that Star Trek: Voyager was probably in the planning stages in 1994. IMHO Dennnis did it a little better, but that will have to await other judgment.

I immediately killed the game. I had the Star Trek Chronology, the Star Trek: The Next Generation Technical Manual and the Star Trek Encyclopedia as soon as they came out. I know what much of the Techno-Babble means. Dennnis, not being a hard core fan of Star Trek does not. Dennnis thought that 30,000 years was a medium distance.

Now in Star Trek distance is a complex issue, usually ignored or altered for the convenience of the story. In an RPG things have to be a little more controlled. So I dug into my reference materials and came up with the cruising speed of the star ship Harrier, IMHO. It's warp six, or one light year per day. (392c, as per the table on page 372 of the Star Trek Encyclopedia). Out came the old calculator and I quickly realized that it would take the Harrier 82.191 years to cross 30,000 light years, assuming warp six. That's all day, every day. No stops, no encounters, no adventures.

This assumption of hard and fast speeds and distances changes things somewhat for the Star Trek Universe as a whole. In our RPG it looks a little different from the ones on the screen. In Star Trek VI, Kirk specifies during the dinner scene, that the Enterprise is one thousand light years from high command, presumably Earth. Yet they made it there that afternoon, and Kirk didn't even have time to unpack. Star Trek is filled with this kind of thing. It makes maps and speed calculations nearly useless. However, in our games the Federation has a set area, some of it is mapped in detail. This changes one of the crucial details of Star Trek and makes the setting for the Harrier Stories somewhat different.

In case you're interested, the Voyagers' estimated flight time of seventy years is based on a speed of Warp 9.975, or six light years per day, all day, every day. They are already significantly behind schedule.

The fact that the Harrier was s similar eighty years away caught Dennnis off-guard. It wasn't what he was after, and he didn't know how to resolve it. He quit at that point.

Six months later I asked him about the game. (Was I getting twitchy? Mind your own business.) I found that he had wanted a three to five year trip back home. Once I knew this I was able to sit down, take off my shoes and arrive at a workable figure given my technical assumptions.

A side note here, is that the assumptions in my references, specifically the books by Okuda are controversial. Not everyone accepts what he says as gospel. I have tried to keep the story moving on a people basis and not a technical one. Except for the one light year per day at warp six and the distances and travel times, I have often succeeded. I wanted you to know where these silly ideas came from, anyway.

Once we got the travel times and distances settled, the Harrier was off again. And that's when I discovered another interesting factor. Time. Again I use the Okuda-books as my basis for dates and events within the Star Trek Universe. YMMV. I deliberately set the start of the Harrier, the Holly Hop Incident six months after the Borg Incident. (ST:TNG, Best of Both Worlds Parts 1&2) Why else would a mid level bureaucrat be promoted to command a ship? Answer: They were short on captains.

After a couple of adventures I realized that we would soon be playing in the future of Star Trek by weeks, months and years. Soon, TPTB would do something in Star Trek that would invalidate some part of our story.

This has in fact, happened. The war with the Klingons and all the paranoia about the Founders and the Gamma Quadrant are absent from my stories. We established our stories before the makers of Star Trek added these features to the one on television.

I tried to stay neutral on what was happening and where it was happening as much as possible. I tried to leave myself wiggle room, but another factor intervened.

Again, Dennnises lack of obsessiveness about the show became apparent, and he introduced a factor that changed the entire universe of Star Trek. This frustrated me a little bit. I wanted to imagine the same thing only different, and he was making it more different.

I don't want to give anything away, but you'll notice more divergence as time rolls on.

By 1994 I had to give it up and admit to myself that the Harrier stories are happening in a different place than the Star Trek I was seeing on TV. This allowed for a certain amount of freedom, especially for Dennnises ideas. I won't try to rewrite the Harrier stories to conform to current Star Trek continuity, that will only change again before I'm done anyway.

This allows the Harrier to come closer to being what it intrinsically is not - an original story. We played in the Star Trek universe, but bent it out of shape pretty badly in some areas.

My only justification is that it was fun while we did it, I hope it will be fun while you read it, And what they hey? It's only an imaginary place, anyway.

The name of this whole game is fun. I'm writing for fun. I hope you're reading for fun. If you're having fun, then the basic function of story is filled. We can hammer out the details later.

-end-


	13. Chapter 13

REP: Star Trek: Outwardly Mobile (OCC - TNG era) 12: The Harmon, PG 1/1

Title: Star Trek: Outwardly Mobile 12: The Harmon

Author: Jay P Hailey ST-OM, OCC - TNG era 12/54?

Rating:PG

Archive: Fine with me, just tell me where.

Disclaimer: Paramount owns all things Star Trek. I claim Original Characters and Situations for me.

Webpage HTTP://jayphailey. Trek: The Voyage of the Harrier

Episode 12: The Harmon

(Stardate 45988)

By Jay P. Hailey and Dennnis Washburn

We had been lost in space for four hundred and fourteen days. My Chief Engineer Ruezre' Vengla was talking to me about this.

"We need new phase inducers. The ones we have are just about done for."

"Can you keep it together for a little while longer?"

"I have jury-rigged and Mickey-Moused the warp core long past the design specs." Mickey-Moused is ancient engineering slang. I have no idea where the term originated, but it refers to improvised engineering techniques.

"What happens if we lose them?"

"Well, that depends. If I get enough warning then we lose main power. If I don't then blooie."

"Blooie? Is that your official report?"

She showed me the quote in her engineering report. I realized that Vengla must have been under a certain amount of pressure. She was becoming less diligent about proper Starfleet procedures. Hiding a smirk I handed the report back. "Is there any way to improvise around this?"

"Maybe. I might be able to keep the main reactor up at forty to fifty percent of rated power after we lose the phase inducers."

I whistled. That was bad. "Could we maintain warp six with fifty percent power?"

"Maybe for a while."

My head started to ache. "Anything else?"

"Uh-huh. Remember that the shields were pretty badly derezzed by that Kliges'chee shield disruptor." Derezzed was more ancient slang.

"Uh-huh."

"The shield generators need to be totally rebuilt. I can't give you any more than seventy-five percent power on them."

That was bad, too. "Anything else?" I didn't really want to know.

"Yeah. There is a chronic shortage of basic parts. I can't fix any more replicators. Lots of little things have been put off until later. The only problem is that we don't know when later is going to be."

"Okay. I'll see what I can do."

Ruezre nodded. I could see a little of the strain disappear from her yellow, iridescent eyes. Now it was the old man's problem. I grinned as I showed her out of my office and tried to keep the headache I had grown from showing on my face. I had no idea what to do either.

--

Later that afternoon, we snuck around a Kliges'chee base. We sighted it on long range scanners, and then kept it at extreme range while we circled around it. We sighted four ships near the base. Three of them were slightly larger than the Harrier. One was like the ship we had encountered earlier. It was a little smaller than the Harrier. We called them "Type-A: Scout" and "Type-B: Cruiser."

It was a good bet that one of the Type-B's was the equal in fire power to the Harrier if you left the shield disruptor out of the equation.

The size of a starship isn't a good indicator of its relative firepower. The whole reaction that powered the Harrier took place in a space the size of my fist. The real indicator of what a starship was capable of was the temperature and pressure of the plasma it produced. Another factor was the efficiency of the ship in using the plasma it generated.

Our measurements of the Kliges'chee ships showed that their plasma was weaker than ours, but that their equipment had more leverage when using it. They seemed like they were more carefully designed as warships. They also lacked a number of safety devices.

We also noticed that only one of the Kliges'chee ships was powered up and under way.

Fortunately we were able to sneak past the Kliges'chee base unnoticed. Two or three Kliges'chee ships might be able to run us down, and that would be the end for us.

--

We snuck along for the next thirty days. This is not quite accurate. Our "sneaking" entailed cruising along normally and preparing to evade any contacts. We saw several other ships, we think. But we didn't get too close. We studiously avoided them.

The stress would have been unbearable except that we only had such contacts once or twice a week. As we gained confidence, I wasn't even woken up for the later contacts.

--

_"Captain's Log, Stardate 48234.5"_

_"The Harrier has been lost in space for four hundred and forty-four days. We are still under way for the area named in Murachi legends as the location of the Harmon. We have made seven long range sensor contacts with Kliges'chee starships. The Harrier's condition is good, and the crews morale is good, considering the circumstances. Our main problem at this point-"_

"Captain." Spaat reported urgently. "Deflectors have just snapped on."

"Log off." I said. "Tillean, scan please."

Tillean turned on her scanners and directed them at the target. She gasped and put it on the screen. I turned to see the largest subspace shock wave that I had ever encountered bearing down on us.

"Red Alert!" I yelled. "Shields to full power! Sound collision alert!"

The wave loomed on the screen. The Harrier's alarms whooped and screamed.

A moment later the wave struck us. The Harrier lurched. It felt as though the ship leaned way over to the port side. I could see Ensign Zuma flung across the bridge by the impact. I looked at the Engineering station. The readouts showed the main power taxed to its limit by the shields. The internal force fields that held the Harrier together hit the red line. I knew that if they failed the Harrier would fall apart like a house of cards.

The inertial dampeners caught up to the forces and the Harrier seemed to lurch all the way over in the other direction. I could feel the deck shuddering. Other alarms started going off and I heard the computer talking. I couldn't make out exactly what it was saying, but the engineering station showed hull damage.

"Turn her into the wave!" I screamed, hoping that Spaat could somehow hear. The Harrier had been launched with oversized navigational deflectors. This was considered necessary for the original mission that I had commanded. When the experimental "Holly-Hop Drive" failed, the Harrier's navigational deflectors were left alone. The decision was made to leave them when it was discovered that replacing them with weaker ones would cost more money.

I was thankful for that piece of bureaucratic inertia now. The over sized navigational deflectors might be able to blunt most of the shock waves' impact.

I could see Spaat clinging resolutely to his station with one hand while entered the commands with the other. His Vulcan hearing had enabled him to hear my shout.

The Harrier turned slowly and uncertainly to bring her nose into the wave. The floor swayed drunkenly. I could see the power readouts. The main reactor was dangerously overloaded. It was heating up rapidly.

As the Harrier swung around and fed power into the navigational deflectors the ride seemed to smooth out. I could hear people yelling and the alarms whooping.

"Computer! Alarms off!" I shouted. A certain amount of the caterwauling quit.

"Tillean!" The Science Officer had both hands free. I could see her legs curled around the underside of her chair. She was holding herself in her chair with her calves. She was scanning.

She looked back at me and screamed something.

"What?"

"It's a supernova!"

I cringed. There was now way to tell how long the buffeting and pounding would go on.

I clung to my seat while the Harrier seemed to be thrown up and down by the shock wave.

The incredible turbulence seemed to go on forever. I watched as the temperature of the Harrier's warp core climbed steadily higher.

Eventually the shock wave passed us. As soon as the deck regained stability, the main power cut out.

--

"The phase inducers have failed." Ruezre' was telling us. The briefing room had a palpable sense of stress. The Harrier had been without main power for most of the day. Without main power, the Harrier was unable to get to warp speed. We were stuck and helpless.

"Without those components, the warp core is crippled."

"Can you reroute power?" Li'ira asked.

"Yes, but it's a purely temporary solution. It won't hold forever."

"How about the rest of the damage?" I asked.

"The structural integrity field generators were badly overloaded. I can get them back up to sixty-five percent, right now. With a little work I may be able to get eighty or eighty-five percent hull integrity back. But that will be all."

She continued "There was some hull buckling along sections twenty to twenty-five and sections forty to forty-five. This can be repaired fairly easily. However, the support systems in that section were impacted. The shields over that area will be weak until we can rebuild the plasma conduits there."

"Okay, thank you." I dismissed her. She left the briefing to get back to work.

"Tillean, what do you have for us?"

"The shock wave came from a supernova about three hundred light years away at heading 343 mark 355, relative to the Harrier." She said. Tillean was subdued by the bad news for the Harrier, but her enthusiasm for the stellar event was catchy.

"It was the closest that any Federation starship has ever been to a supernova. We got excellent readings." Tillean grinned. "Our readings, if properly analyzed could reveal much about the inner workings of a supernova, especially in the area of subspace. The subspace function of the insides of stars is not well understood."

"Great." Stephanie Anderson growled. She was not impressed by the science potential of the kicking around that we had just received.

"Dr. Flynn, your report?"

"We had twenty-one injuries, but there is nothing that we can't deal with. Everyone should be back on duty within the week."

"Thank you." I said "Stephanie how is our tactical stance?"

Stephanie, the Chief of Security shook her head ruefully. "Pretty crappy, to be blunt. Our shields are weak and we're stuck at fifty percent of main power. I don't think that we could fight off one of the Kliges'chee Type-A scouts without suffering heavy damage ourselves."

"Anyone else?"

"I just hope that Harmon space is pretty close, Captain." Li'ira said.

"Amen." It was all that I could say.

--

It was another month before we realized what we were heading for. The large blue star that the Murachi said was the gateway to Harmon space was a blue super-giant. It was big enough so that if you put Earth's sun at the center, then Pluto's orbit would still be inside the blue super-giant.

The Earth orbited its sun at a distance of roughly ninety-three million miles. If the Harrier got that close to the blue super-giant star then we would be baked instantly by the extreme heat and radiation pouring out of the star. Our shields would not hold for even a whole second.

A blue super-giant pays for its strength. They only last a few million years before exploding into a supernova, and splattering themselves all over the sector.

While we watched the giant burn, I had a chill. I realized that every atom in my body had been cooked by a giant star before it had come to be me. Hydrogen was the most common element in the universe. The giant stars transmuted hydrogen into heavier elements, and then spit the heavy elements out in the supernova explosion. I was watching the civilizations and people of a billion years from now, cooking in a giant star.

There were a pair of even stranger objects in orbit around the blue super-giant. They were a pair of black dwarf stars. Tillean thought that this was very important and significant. She explained it to us.

A star the size of Earth's sun is too small to have a supernova explosion. When the lifetime of Sol is done, the spent fuel will simply compact down into a ball of extremely dense material.

The act of compacting will heat up the spent stellar fuel and material. The little compacted ball will glow like a small star of its own. This will be called a white dwarf.

In time a white dwarf will radiate away all of its heat and cool off, becoming a black dwarf. The estimated time for this to happen is something like thirty-five or thirty-six billion years.

The universe was simply too young to have black dwarfs in it yet. Moreover, there they were, in orbit around the blue super-giant. The blue super-giant was destined to explode in another six or eight million years. It never had time to capture these exotic objects nor would it be around long enough to enjoy them, on a cosmic scale.

As we closed in to a safe distance to take readings, our sensors read gravitic anomalies all over the area of these three objects. That settled me. If creatures could build an energy bubble one hundred light years across, then perhaps they could build this strange collection as a sign post.

We moved on. It was almost an anticlimax, when we lost the warp core again. Ruzere was able to get it back, but our speed was severely reduced.

--

We crawled along for another twenty-five days. We were now nearing the halfway point of the year 2370. We had been lost near the end of 2367. The Harrier was showing the results of two and a half years of cruising with no spare parts. On the bridge, everything was clean and shipshape, but the master environmental systems monitor was dark. It had been stripped of processors to replace the ones in Tillean's science station.

The Harrier was crawling along at warp four. At this rate we were making one light year every two and a half days. We weren't going to make it very far at this rate, while the Harrier's critical systems were aging to death around us.

Other systems weren't doing very badly at all. The main computers and the impulse power systems were still nearly at factory specs. The life support system was robust, and threatened to keep us breathing for another century, at least.

--

I had plans on my terminal for cold-sleep tubes. If all else failed I would turn the Harrier into a sleeper ship and try to await rescue. I was nervous about it. We would be out of control. If something got us, we would die never knowing what hit us. I didn't like that idea. I was determined to wait until hibernation was the last option before I tried it.

"Captain to the Bridge!" Li'ira's voice called on my intercom.

I keyed the Bridge. "Report!"

"Contact at relative bearing 010 mark 005, Captain, Unknown configuration."

Had the Kliges'chee found us? I dropped everything and ran to the Bridge.

Arriving on the bridge I saw the intruder on the main screen. It was a point of light. "What is that?"

"Scans just bounce off, Captain." Tillean said.

"It's on an intercept course, sir, at warp four point three."

"Open hailing frequencies."

"Hailing frequencies open."

"This Captain Jay P. Hailey of the Federation starship Harrier. We are on a mission of peaceful exploration. Will you communicate with us?"

We waited.

"The unknown is now within weapons range." Stephanie reported.

"Is it still on an intercept course?"

"Yes, Sir."

"Hail them again."

"Aye, Sir. Hailing."

We waited

"No response. The unknown is now at three hundred thousand kilometers."

"Mr. Spaat, begin evasive maneuvers."

"Aye, Sir. " The screen started to wobble around dizzily.

"Report."

"No effect, Captain, the unknown is still closing with us."

"Yellow alert. Hail them again."

"Aye, Sir."

"The unknown is now at close range." Harksain Varupuchu reported.

"Raise shields."

"Shields up, Captain."

"Any response to the hail?"

"None, Captain."

"Red alert. Open the channel, please."

The alarms of the Harrier summoned the crew to battle stations. "Channel open, Captain."

"This is Captain Hailey of the Harrier. Your actions might be misinterpreted as hostile. I am prepared to act to defend my ship. Please respond."

We waited. The point of light could be seen now as a globe in the main view screen.

"The unknown is now at point blank range." That was less than five kilometers. The Harrier strained through a turn trying to avoid the thing.

"Arm weapons." I said

"Weapons arming."

"Impact in fifteen seconds."

"Phasers armed."

"Twelve, eleven..."

"Phasers fire."

The phasers of the Harrier lashed out and touched the globe. Nothing happened.

"No effect, Captain."

"Four, three, two..."

"Brace for impact." We all grabbed something. The alert klaxon took on a more strident tone.

A large face appeared floating in the air near the main view screen. It looked like a mask. One of those masks used as the symbols for drama. It started out blank, but then took on an angry expression.

I stood up in front of it. Even with empty eyes, I had the feeling that it was looking at me. "I am Captain Jay P. Hailey. I welcome you to the Harrier." I spread my arms slowly.

It looked at me.

"Are you the Harmon?"

For a brief moment the angry scowl was replaced by a cheerful grin. Then the angry scowl returned.

"Can you understand us?"

Again the scowl was briefly replaced with a grin, which quickly faded.

I noticed just then that the Harrier was still turning and dodging in response to her evasive maneuvers program. "Mr. Spaat, All stop."

The Harrier came to a halt and the face showed another grin.

"Do you have a spoken language?" I asked.

The face showed a moment of a sad frown and then returned to an angry scowl. Was it my imagination that the angry scowl wasn't quite as resentful?

"We are in distress. We would like your aid."

The face showed a moment of sad frown.

"Could you tell us the location of your space?"

The face grinned and then the science station lit up. A stellar chart was called up and then the exact areas of Harmon space were delineated. It wasn't very big, about one hundred and eighty light years across. I saw that notations were added to the chart. Harmon space was marked by a series of bizarre stellar phenomenon. As long as you steered clear of those, you wouldn't run into Harmon space.

"Thank you."

The face grinned.

"Do you know the locations of Kliges'chee space?"

The sad frown returned. It was replaced by an even angrier scowl.

"I apologize. The Kliges'chee pose a serious threat to us. We don't want to be eaten."

The face went slowly blank.

"Ah, Hello?" I was desperate "Please don't give up! I'm sure that we can communicate!"

The eyes of the mask flashed brightly.

--

I was a Harmon. I was floating in the air of the Harrier's bridge, while I watched my own body crumple to the floor like a sack of potatoes.

It was awful. I could see every minute flaw in the Harrier. She was an aesthetic nightmare. All the angles are subtly wrong. All the colors just slightly off, and the effect was horrid.

As I watched my body crumple to the floor I noticed that it was really not a great design. There were so many ways to do the things that my body did, only better.

As form followed function, I realized that aesthetically the poor functioning of my body made it pretty sad from an artistic point of view too.

Worse the same basic flaws were repeated with a certain amount of variety by every living being on the Harrier.

As my mind encompassed each being on the Harrier, his every minuscule imperfection stood out to me, and it was very irritating.

I saw the Harrier as whole object and she was pretty sad. The whole basic concept of matter/anti-matter annihilation leading to plasma energy transfer was flawed, but even if I was willing to accept the idea for the sake of argument, we simply hadn't put the whole thing together very well.

Then my mind turn turned to society and the Federation, and what a botched up mess we had made of things there. I was half tempted to shut the whole thing away before it hurt anyone else with its inept fumblings.

Then I realized that I was mad. It was a painful realization, but I immediately came to understand the inherent flaw in me. As a Harmon I had given thousands of years to the pursuit of perfection. The act of perfecting myself had given me vast powers and perceptions. However, my own obsession with perfection led me to critically analyze everything in the minutest detail.

Imperfection annoyed me. To perceive an imperfection was to admit that such a thing was possible, even in me. I saw the entire galaxy as an imperfect thing that I needed to correct piece by individual piece.

I knew that this was madness. Even with my perfected powers and perceptions I couldn't change the entire galaxy enough to make it perfect. Worse, the more I fought with it the more it would seem to deteriorate. My own perceptions would magnify the imperfect areas out of proportion. I had to review myself. I could not make the Galaxy perfect, therefore I had to make myself perfectly suited to the galaxy as it was. Or, imperfect.

This was big step and I was afraid. I needed to hide, I needed to be alone. I needed to be quite inside and let my perfect spirit grapple with these problems.

Choosing a place that wasn't quite perfect, I set myself to contemplate the nature of perfection and imperfection. But I was continuously interrupted.

Bugs in little starships came to me calling for my attention. Bugs shouldn't build starships. They don't really know how. In leaky, crappy death traps they came by the hordes. I set warning signs and traps to send them away, but they were really thicker than mosquitoes on a river. I could kill them out right with my perfected powers, but my perfected ethics restrained me. To do so would make me the exact opposite of perfect.

Some bugs were even less perfect than others, and these, the Kliges'chee actually tried to eat me. With exasperation I turned their swarm aside again and again until they got the point and left.

Even so, the bugs and their aggressive imperfection continued to intrude. The bugs were friendly or angry or fearful or awed and worshipful. Their little imperfect emotions didn't matter. Each one was about as annoying as any other.

My meditations were interrupted time and again. They were important. I must end my own madness and adjust myself to be harmonious with an imperfect world. If my madness grew, then bugs and bigger animals and maybe even other people might be in danger of being hurt. The thought pained me. I needed to heal myself.

If only the bugs would leave me alone.

--

I rolled over and puked. Then the pain hit me and I curled into a ball. I think I whimpered, but I can't be sure. Hands were grabbing me and pulling me flat on the deck. Voices were saying things, but I hurt to badly to pay attention.

Then my stomach heaved again. I was a mess.

Things got a little vague and then I was in sickbay. Dr. Flynn was scanning me. For a moment I just looked. When I was the Harmon, I could have told you exactly what was wrong with her whole design and aesthetics.

I couldn't see it, now, but I remembered what it felt like. We had to give these guys room! I rolled over and scrabbled for the floor. I was in a hospital gown. It was drafty and embarrassing, except that I didn't have time.

"Hold it, Captain." Patricia moved over and held me, to keep me from leaving.

"Patricia, please. I have to get to the bridge. It's important."

"No. You've had your brain altered. I can't tell exactly what's going on with you, but I know it wasn't good."

I felt the deck vibrate as the Harrier started to move. "Listen, I promise to come right back, but it's important! I can't tell you right now, but I'll come back. I promise!"

"Don't you trust Li'ira?"

"It's not that! She just doesn't know!"

Dr. Flynn rolled her eyes and reached for my pants. "All right, but I'm coming along to keep an eye on you."

"Fine. Glad to have you."

It didn't hurt as much now and walking was only a slightly imperfect way to move myself.

I got to the bridge to find Li'ira in control, and the Harrier fiercely evading the ball of light.

I was struck by a blast of lust. Li'ira must have been scared out of her mind. Besides the immediate rush, I was struck by what an inappropriate and imperfect reaction that was.

"Report." I meant to bark, but my head hurt and my voice was hoarse.

Li'ira did a double take at me "Captain! You're back!" She grinned merrily. I knew how she must feel. Now she didn't have to lug the Harrier home on her back.

"When you were attacked, the face disappeared. I reinstated evasive maneuvers. The Harmon has been shadowing us at a distance of 5373.1 kilometers. I was preparing to fire on them."

"All stop." I said. "Stand down weapons."

The Harrier came to a stop, the weapons were disarmed.

"But, Captain..." Li'ira said. Now she back on the other side of it, where no one knew what the crazy captain was thinking. It was good see her reevaluating her opinions. She gave Patricia a significant look. The Doctor just shrugged and watched to see what I would do next.

"Open a channel."

"Channel open, Captain." Stephanie reported crisply.

"This is Captain Hailey. We apologize for the unwarranted intrusion. We meant no harm. If there is ever a way for us to help you, please let us know. Until then, The Harrier will leave your territory immediately. I beg you to remember the Kurr Association. You englobed them in an energy bubble some time ago. They will soon die unless released-"

The point of light streaked off.

"Huh?" I said

"The Harmon has moved off at a high warp speed, Captain."

"How high?"

"We lost them as they reached warp nine point nine nine eight, Sir."

"Whoa." I sat back down in my command chair. My legs felt distant and I was a little woozy. Patricia had given me something and I was really beginning to feel it. "Mr. Spaat, best speed directly out of Harmon space."

"Back into Kliges'chee space, Captain?" Li'ira said, unhappily.

"You don't know what sort of harm we risked by coming here. Lives all over the galaxy could be threatened if the Harmon lose it."

Li'ira looked at me confused and upset. "Lose it?"

"They are hurting pretty badly."

"Contact, Captain." Harksain Varupuchu reported.

Stephanie started cursing under her breath as the information was transferred to her screen.

"Tactical on screen." I said.

The main view screen switched to its tactical mode and I saw what Stephanie was cursing about. Twenty-five ships had surrounded us and were now screaming down on us at full impulse acceleration.

"Begin evasive!" I order. Spaat hit a button and the Harrier again ran her evasive program.

"What are they?" I dreaded the answer, but felt that I knew already. The Kliges'chee's sensors must have been better than we thought.

"Unknown type and configuration, Captain. I can't identify them."

"On screen." The main screen again switched and I saw what was coming at us. It was a flattened ellipsoid. It wriggled through space. It looked for all the world like a space going manta ray. The thing that really caught my eye were the energy readings and the weapons/shields reading. Nothing. They had no shields, or weapons or energy that we could detect.

"Ah, hell." I said

"Can we go to warp?" Li'ira asked.

"Negative." Spaat reported. "The aliens are too close to us and too close to each other. To go to warp now would ensure a collision."

"Permission to re-arm the weapons, Captain?" Stephanie asked. She wanted to go down fighting, at least.

"Denied. We have no idea what we're dealing with here. Hail them."

"Aye, Sir. Hailing frequencies open." Stephanie sounded resigned.

"This is the Federation starship Harrier. We are on a peaceful mission of exploration. Will you communicate with us?"

We waited while the Harrier evaded, looking for an opening. The aliens had superior speed and maneuverability. We couldn't find a gap before they moved to close it. They swarmed closer and closer. The Harrier was running out of room and time.

"Hail them again."

"Aye, sir."

The globe closed in further. It seemed as though all we could see were swooping manta rays.

"Mr. Varupuchu, any ideas of what these are?"

"No, Captain. We can detect no energy or weapons signatures. I can't even give you an idea of how they are propelling themselves. It does seem fairly obvious that they are herding us in."

The aliens closed in. The Harrier had to curtail her evasive maneuvers or risk a collision. I knew that I should fire. The Harrier was almost completely trapped and out of options. The order to arm weapons and fire sat on the tip of my tongue. I couldn't bring myself to give the order. Our inability to scan anything except the basic existence of these creatures argued that they were some sort of technologically advanced ships.

While that made me afraid, that wasn't the only factor in my decision. The simple fact was that I didn't know what they were doing. I didn't want to risk making them angry when they could be doing anything. Was it some sort of mating flight? I just didn't know.

The aliens closed to within five hundred meters, and the stopped, joining to form a globe with the Harrier in the middle.

There was a lurch. The aliens broke up their globe and swooped away, seeming to cavort in open space. The stars outside the Harrier were different.

Two things were reported to me at about the same time.

First, we were located in a sector about one hundred and eighty light years away from our previous location. We had been carried to the far side of Harmon space in an instant.

Secondly, there were five Kliges'chee Type-B cruisers facing us.

-end-


	14. Chapter 14

REP: Star Trek: Outwardly Mobile (OCC - TNG era) 13 The Zantree, PG 1/1

Title: Star Trek: Outwardly Mobile 13 The Zantree

Author: Jay P Hailey ST-OM, OCC - TNG era 13/54?

Rating:PG

Archive: Fine with me, just tell me where.

Disclaimer: Paramount owns all things Star Trek. I claim Original Characters and Situations for me.

Webpage HTTP://jayphailey. Trek: Outwardly Mobile

Episode 13 The Zantree

(Stardate 46632)

By Jay P. Hailey and Dennnis Washburn

There were five Kliges'chee Type-B cruisers facing us. Our shields were still up and the Harrier was still at red alert. This saved me the time.

"Get us out of here! Full evasive!" The Harrier began to swoop and dodge away from the Kliges'chee cruisers. I knew that it was essentially all over at that point. Our starship was in sad shape from long time of hard use with no refits, repairs or spare parts. Our shields were weakened, our main power plant was only giving us half power, and the Harrier had been at red alert, doing evasive maneuvers for the entire previous afternoon.

"Captain, we're being hailed."

What could it hurt?" On screen."

The face that appeared on screen was not a Kliges'chee. It was a male humanoid. He had an aquiline look, enhanced by a wider, flatter nose. He looked as though he had been designed for life on the beach, in and out of the water. The alien man was short and wiry looking.

He said "Bleeg mork wadle Poong meetful." Very earnestly, and slowly.

"I am Captain Jay P. Hailey of the Federation starship Harrier. We are on a peaceful mission of exploration. We seek peaceful contact with other races."

"Zladae, wop-wop."

I made the signal to cut audio from our end. "What's the tactical stance of the Kliges'chee ships?"

Stephanie read her panel. "They are shadowing us, but not closely. Their shields are up, but their weapons are not armed. They would seem to be at yellow alert."

Tillean spoke up. "Captain. Two of the five ships are maintaining a class "M" atmosphere. I'm reading various humanoid life forms in them. The other three have the class "F" atmosphere and Kliges'chee life forms in them."

"That's weird. Reopen the channel." The universal translator beeped to let us know that it had locked on to the transmissions of the humanoid man.

"Ah, that's better." He said "I am representative Poong of the Zantree Alliance. Please identify yourselves."

"I am Captain Jay P. Hailey of the Federation starship Harrier. We are on a peaceful mission of exploration. We seek friendly contact with other civilizations and cultures." I responded.

"Well, that's a pleasant change. Captain, by Federation', do you mean The United Federation of Planets?"

"Yes, that's us. Have you heard of it?"

"Nothing substantial. I couldn't help but notice that you have been ejected from Harmon territory."

"Uh, they should really be left alone." I said.

"We have had our own run in with them. The fact that they brought you here says something about you. Would you care to return to our starbase and meet with more of our representatives?"

"Yes, please. I have some information about the Federation here that might prove helpful."

"Please send it to me. We will escort you to the base. Please set your course accordingly."

"Thank you. Mr. Poong."

As soon as the channel was closed, Li'ira said "Captain are you sure that this is wise?"

"No, but I'm sure that we don't have many other options. How far does the Zantree Alliance extend around us? How many ships do they have? If we respectfully decline, what will that battle group do to us? We will play along until we find out more about what's going on."

Li'ira gave a resigned nod. She understood my logic.

I stood us down from red alert. We returned to cruise mode and followed the Zantree ships.

We transmitted the information packet about the Federation to the Zantree ships. It was a collection of public access information about the UFP. It was honest and truthful as far as it went. It was obviously pro-Federation in its' bias. It didn't talk about embarrassing incidents or things that hadn't worked out in a simple, cheerful way.

Some Captains added information from other points of view. Many called it a sales brochure and joked about the complimentary T-shirts, mugs and pens to hand out with it.

I left it alone.

The trip back to the Zantree starbase was a couple of uneventful weeks. I took the chance to recover from my encounter with the Harmon.

--

We arrived at the Zantree starbase and docked. The base was a small space station with dozens of auxiliary modules plugged into it. There were also dozens of warships at the base. Ninety percent of them were Kliges'chee built ships.

The crew of the Harrier was allowed to wander the more public areas of the space station. They reported that it was rough. There were a few restaurants serving strange foods, and a couple of slapdash casinos or brothels. There were none of the features of a more established cross roads or transshipment point.

Lt. Colonel Flagg reported that it looked more like a forward fire-base than a regular starbase.

I was meeting regularly with Poong and the base commander, Freen. They asked me a lot of penetrating questions about the packet I had sent them. They had read it thoroughly. I hadn't read it as well as they had, and so I had to query the Harrier's computer banks and my officers on many points.

I was also getting an education myself, about the Zantree Alliance and the Kliges'chee.

The Zantree Alliance was similar in many ways to the Federation. They were a looser group though. In this they resembled the early United Federation of Planets more than the modern one that I was familiar with.

They had five founding worlds. These worlds banded together for mutual protection and exploration of the surrounding areas. They had grown to encompass about seventy-five worlds all together.

Then the Kliges'chee had found the Zantree. The Kliges'chee were said to have been trying to out flank their long time opponents, the Romulans. The Zantree learned of the Romulans and tried to establish an alliance against the Kliges'chee. The Romulans had given the Zantree a lot of knowledge, including data about the Romulan's neighbors, the hated dictatorships the Klingons and the Federation.

Then the two had attempted a combined operation. The Zantree attacked, only to find that the Romulans had held off. The Zantree forces were decimated, and the Kliges'chee decided to focus on getting rid of them first. The Romulans had sold the Zantree out in order to gain time to rebuild their own fleet.

Just as all looked lost for the Zantree, the Kliges'chee held a civil war.

I was told that the Kliges'chee are a mass mind, controlled by telepathic comptrollers well behind the lines. No individual Kliges'chee has a mind or will of its own. All ideas, thoughts, desires and instructions are relayed to them from a distance by the comptrollers.

Since all ships and units are controlled by a small group of comptrollers, each time a Kliges'chee ship was lost the commanding mind was still safe and they learned from each defeat. The Kliges'chee were devilishly good tacticians.

Young Kliges'chee are independent. They are trained in a variety of support and maintenance skills. As they age and become adolescents, they are then dominated by the comptrollers. A group of adolescent Kliges'chee had avoided the domination of the comptrollers. They had freed others, and soon began to fight for control of the Kliges'chee.

I learned that the war took over thirty years to resolve and that in the end, the Free Kliges'chee lost. They had retreated to the Zantree Alliance, requesting asylum. The fact that they had brought half the Kliges'chee star fleet with them didn't hurt.

Now, the Zantree were able to fight the Kliges'chee with nearly seventeen thousand starships. I was floored. The Federation Starfleet had something over six hundred active ships. Two hundred of these were ships of the line.

All of known space could probably put together two thousand front line combat units.

It wasn't quite as bad as all that, though. The Kliges'chee and the Free Kliges'chee/Zantree could only operate about ten percent of their ships effectively at any one time

The Free Kliges'chee had arrived in the Zantree Alliance about three years ago. That coincided with the reappearance of the Romulans in galactic affairs in known space. The Kliges'chee had concentrated their full efforts on recapturing their lost members and their lost ships.

The Zantree now had a fighting chance. They had not sought out the Klingons or the Federation as allies because of the stories the Romulans had told of us. Worse, these stories were not as exaggerated about the Klingons. The Zantree Alliance was only one hundred light years away from the Klingon border. If the Klingons decide to attack the Zantree, then the Zantree could not hold the border. They would be crushed between the Klingons and the Kliges'chee.

When asked, I couldn't honestly say that I knew what the Klingons would do. I thought that it was good bet that they would act honorably. Klingon notions of honor were slippery sometimes. They might choose to "Liberate" the Zantree Alliance from the Kliges'chee, which would be about the same thing as crushing it between the two.

I knew for a fact that overwhelming hordes of cannibalistic monsters were a Klingon's wet dream. Once the word was out, then there would be no stopping a certain number of younger sons and glory hounds from coming to the Zantree Alliance in an attempt to fight in the great battles that would make their reputations.

In the end we agreed to a friendly relationship between the Federation and the Zantree Alliance. I agreed to try to keep knowledge of the Zantree away from the Klingons.

--

I was briefing the command staff of the Harrier about what I had learned of the Kliges'chee and the Zantree. The news was greeted about like I would have expected. If the Romulans or the Zantree couldn't hold, then the Klingons and the Federation would be facing the Kliges'chee. If we reported to the Federation, and they believed us, then we might have a chance. The experience of the Borg was illustrative. The Enterprise-D had encountered the Borg. They warned Starfleet Command. Starfleet Command messed around and dithered until the Borg were on the door step. The result was Wolf-359, the worst massacre in Starfleet's history.

"That's why I have decided to trade certain technologies to the Zantree Alliance in exchange for a refit."

This caused a sensation. Li'ira bored through me with her eyes. "Captain, you know that this would violate the Prime Directive."

"I don't think that it's especially relevant here. This isn't interference so much as it's a military alliance." This was a cheesy old argument. In the Academy it was a common debate question. How can a Federation devoted to non-interference justify having military alliances with races who were not as advanced? The answer again is convenience. Most of the time the Federation will avoid conflicts between races that are less advanced. However, if the Federation's over all security is involved then the question will be considered a little more deeply.

"What are you going to trade to them?" Patricia Flynn, my Chief Medical Officer asked.

I took a deep breath. This was going to be tough. "Photon torpedoes, launchers and sensor schematics."

"Why?" This was Lt. Colonel Flagg. He was in the briefing as a courtesy. As a flag officer he might wind up in command of the Harrier if I were disabled. I wanted him up to speed on what was going on.

"The photon torpedoes will give the Zantree Alliance a serious tactical advantage. The Kliges'chee don't have anything comparable. The sensor specs will neutralize the main Kliges'chee strategic advantage. Remember that their stealth suite makes them hard for long range sensors to detect. With sensors as good as ours, the Zantree will enjoy a good strategic advantage."

"What if it turns out that they are enemies of the Federation?" Flagg was looking at me oddly and I didn't enjoy it.

"I think that their main problem is the Kliges'chee at this point."

"Why not give them the whole works?" Harksain Varupuchu said. "Your logic is clear. You would like the Zantree Alliance to win their war with the Kliges'chee. Why not go all the way?"

"I don't think that the Zantree could profit by the whole raft of Federation technology. What would happen if they tried to produce new ships with completely new technology? I think that they would fall behind the Kliges'chee and never recover. The Kliges'chee built ships that they have could be refit with new sensors and photon torpedo launchers relatively quickly."

"Good point." Flagg said "If the Kliges'chee ships in Zantree hands are so easily refit, then so are the ones in Kliges'chee hands."

"Yeah, well, I can't help that. There are other reasons, too."

"Such as?"

"If we get this refit, then it's almost guaranteed that we can get home. A lot of the data that we have is one of a kind stuff. Then there's the warning to Starfleet Command about the Kliges'chee. All of these things together I find quite persuasive."

"I don't. What you're about to do is treason." Flagg was as cold as ice.

"I don't agree, Colonel. My decision is made."

A phaser appeared in Flagg's hand. "Then I must relieve you."

I was shocked. "What? Flagg, put that thing away!"

Stephanie shifted uncomfortably in her seat, but remained seated. Li'ira remained calm. Harksain Varupuchu just shook his head ruefully. Patricia's face drained of color and her eyes were focused on Flagg's phaser.

I was unhappy. Either Flagg would lock me up and do paranoid, stupid things with my ship, or he'd just kill me and go ahead. If none of that happened, then I'd have to space him as a mutineer.

"Computer secure this room." Flagg said

The Computer beeped "Briefing room number three is secure."

I said "Computer, over-ride. Code: Vrendeemok." The Computer beeped and said "Over-ride accepted." Varupuchu and Li'ira looked at me. The word was a very obscene Vulcan concept.

"Computer, master over-ride. Code: Federation forever. I tell you three times."

The Computer asked "Does Lieutenant Colonel Flagg concur?"

"Yes, I do."

"Master over-ride confirmed."

If the computer asked for confirmation, then it was somehow tied into the self destruct system. Guessing, I said "Computer, end self destruct, code zero four nine five destruct five."

The computer said "Does the First Officer concur?"

Flagg said "Son of a bitch!" Then he shot me. I tried to scramble out of the way. Time seemed to slow to a crawl. I could see his phaser aimed right at me. I wasn't moving quickly enough. I could see Stephanie's' phaser whip up from under the conference table. I really didn't want to die. At least I had some consolation. Stephanie had him dead to rights. Then there was a bright flash.

--

I woke up on the deck. I was alive. The thought made me indecently happy. Almost enough not to mind the headache and nausea from being stunned.

"Ugh." I said.

"Captain, Are you all right?" Li'ira was peering over Patricia's shoulder.

"Ow." I said "My head hurts."

"You are incredibly lucky, do you know that?" Patricia's face was drawn and she was obviously unhappy.

"Oh, yeah. Where's Flagg?"

"In the Brig. After Stephanie stunned him, the Marines came and took him away."

"Is everyone else okay?"

Patricia was grim. "That depends on what you mean by Okay'."

"What do you mean?"

She showed me her hand. It was still shaking from the adrenaline reaction. "That maniac could have killed all of us!"

I took her hand "It's okay. He didn't."

Patricia gave my hand a squeeze and then resumed her professional demeanor. She scanned me and told Li'ira that I was okay. I would feel ill for a couple of hours, but otherwise I would be fine.

I got up and immediately regretted it. I sat down in a chair, but what I really wanted was to lie down on the floor and command the ship from a prone position.

"Did you complete the over-ride?" I asked Li'ira.

"Yes, Captain. I have Ensign Bruce rebuilding the self destruct circuits now."

"Doctor," I said to Patricia "In my layman's opinion it seems as though Colonel Flagg was as mad as a hatter when he flipped out, just now."

She looked me in the eye. "What's the penalty for mutiny, Captain?"

"The Harrier is running under emergency conditions, Doctor. If an officer was convicted of willful mutiny, I would have to space him."

Patricia thought it over. "I will confirm the diagnosis of the Ship's Counselor. Father McTague is better suited to make that determination." Her expression made it plain. Patricia wouldn't mind if Flagg was spaced.

I went to see McTague. The red headed priest was his usual over stuffed, jolly self. "Captain, if you've been stunned recently then there is only one prescription to make." He opened a small cupboard and drew out a flask of amber liquid, along with two glasses. He poured a certain amount of the liquid into the glasses and then handed me one. I took a cautious sip. I was brandy. I am no judge, but it was definitely alcoholic. I took a delicate sip to be polite.

McTague shook his head sadly. "Ah, I can see we have some more work ahead of us before we turn ye into a drinker, sure enough. What brings ye to my office, this fine afternoon?"

"I need you to interview Colonel Flagg, and assess his mental competence."

"Oh, and this'll be the mutiny he pulled earlier this afternoon."

"In my opinion, he was not stable when he did it." I emphasized my opinion.

"Aye, It's a possibility. What's the penalty for mutiny, then?"

"If he's competent and found guilty, then I'll have to space him."

"Aye, and a miserable task that would be."

"I'll do it if I have to, but I'd like another option."

"Captain, let me ask ye one more thing. How many people have been convicted of mutiny and then spaced on Starfleet vessels?"

I racked my brain for a moment. I couldn't remember my space law classes worth a damn. "I don't recall. I don't remember any."

"I've been looking it up, Captain. There have been none. Tell me are ye asking me this to preserve Starfleet's perfect record? Or are ye protecting yer queasy stomach?"

I got mad "I'm not going to kill a man unless I absolutely have to. I'm not going to use the letter of the law to stuff a man out a goddamned airlock. Have you ever seen someone die of decompression? I have! If he's got to die to protect the ship then I'll take a phaser and do it myself, but not until the last option has been exhausted! Is that clear?"

McTague grinned "Yes, Captain! Sorry, I had to make sure what you were about."

--

I was watching the tape of McTague's interview with Flagg. They were in Flagg's cell. Flagg had been stunned, and then restrained. He came to and groaned, rolling against the restraints. People develop good ducking reflexes from getting stunned. The recovery process is very painful.

He came awake fully and regained his composure. He saw McTague and seemed confused for a few brief moments before he understood the Counselor's presence.

"Oh, yes, that's right!" Flagg said snapping his fingers as if he suddenly recalled. "I must be mad! The reputation of the service must be preserved."

"Colonel Flagg, I'll be wantin' to know what diagnosis ye'll be preferring on your chart." Seamus said, mildly.

"Oh, I don't know. Schizophrenia? A psychotic episode?"

"Each of these is a clinical condition with distinct neuro-chemical markers, lad. We could claim it, but it wouldn't show up in the examinations."

"I have drugs available to simulate these readings. Of course they induce temporary insanity, but you get what you pay for, I suppose."

"Well, sir, I had in mind paranoia with delusions of persecution."

Flagg's expression grew a little colder "Oh, how unoriginal. Surely you can do better."

"No, sir, no. That seems to be the diagnosis from where I'm standing. Of course we'll have to settle it up with another, more clinical interview."

"No. I refuse." Flagg said.

"Ye can refuse all ye like Sir, it won't change things."

"I am not paranoid." Flagg growled "If you put that down it will taint my report back to the Federation. Captain Hailey's treason won't be brought to light. It'll be swept under the rug. He must pay."

"Well, sir, that sounds important. Why don't you tell me about it."

"I know you don't believe it, but I know. That fool Hailey is threatening the whole Federation to save us. That's not what this ship is about! That's not what Starfleet is about. We're suppose to protect the interests of the Federation with our lives."

"Aye. I made that vow, too."

"I believe that this whole cruise can be viewed as either brute incompetence or criminal negligence. I don't know what exactly is going on with him, but I know that Hailey is not acting in the best interests of the Federation."

"I see. That's a heavy charge way out here in the boonies. What would ye like to do about it?"

"Out here? With no support and no back up? There doesn't seem to be much I can do, Counselor. Back home, oh, I'd have had him removed from command a year ago. I know people. I have the right connections. Hailey would have been back pushing papers where he belongs."

"And yet, Starfleet named him the Captain of the Harrier, didn't it?"

"I should have been the Captain of the Harrier. I don't what exactly happened to the Holly-Hop project, but I know that it was my baby. I made the whole thing fly. I arranged the support of certain key people. I found Holly and funded his work. I chose the Harrier out of the scrap heap and oversaw her refit. I took all the tests. I have all the qualifications. I'm twice the starship captain that fool Hailey is."

"And you feel that he's in command of the starship unfairly, then."

"No. Not just that. There was some monkey business. You see it was Admiral Quinn. He assigned Hailey as the Captain right under my nose. He found out about my project and then tried to slip his own ringer in. Ask yourself why? Who would stand to gain from the failure of that project? That will tell the whole tale."

"So it's yer opinion that yer Holly-Hop project was sabotaged, and the Harrier taken away from ye?"

"It's not just about me. These people were acting against the whole Federation. I could have been a hero. I just didn't cover my ass well enough and the enemies of the Federation took it away from me. From all of us."

"I see." McTague was thoughtful.

"I wangled myself a place on board the Harrier to see if I could ferret out who was doing what, but then the ship was thrown out of Federation space. If that was an accident. Why was Hailey left in command of this ship? What purpose could he serve? Since we left Federation space, he's made alliances and broken the Prime Directive. He's on the loose out here like he's Starfleet Command or something. Ask yourself why. That's all I ask."

"So ye felt that the security of the Federation was threatened, then?"

"Yes! The Zantree Alliance is a lost cause. Any fool can see that. This is an attempt to leave our best tactical systems where the Kliges'chee can get them. That is, if the Kliges'chee are really our enemies. I've learned to take nothing for granted."

Thank ye, Colonel, I'll be back to see ye, soon."

McTague turned to leave.

"Please listen. It might be too late for me, but some one has to know. Someone has to be in position in case Hailey reveals his hand. Please Counselor, just ask yourself why!"

--

I had a cold sleep tube built and Colonel Flagg was the first customer. The technology was tricky to develop, but three hundred years ago they worked out all the kinks. We were able to use their records to rebuild the device. Flagg's body was filled with a life preserving anti-freeze, and he was quickly frozen to the temperature of liquid nitrogen. When we returned home he could be thawed out and revived easily with modern twenty-fourth century medicine.

When Ensign Bruce went back to rebuild the self destruct device, he found that it and several other crucial systems had been sabotaged to turn control of the ship over to Flagg. I didn't want to take any chances that he might escape the brig and cause havoc on the Harrier. I felt that Starfleet Command could more easily try him on our return Earth. Flagg was the first person that we had to do that to during the trip.

--

The Zantree Alliance quickly took us up on our offer and I handed Poong the schematics to our devices personally. The Harrier was given new phase inducers and we made the trip to Poong's World.

We called it "Poong's World" and the people the "Poong" because the literal translation of their words for their planet and people came out "The World" and "The People".

The Harrier was hard docked to a large space station in orbit around Poong's World. The Harrier underwent a three week refit. It was not the easiest refit ever. Ruezre had a list of parts and equipment needed to return the Harrier to full functioning. The Zantree didn't have all of the materials and equipment necessary. Again our chief engineer's experience in the under-equipped merchant marine came in handy. She was able to improvise what we needed.

Much of the crew had leave on Poong's World. I was told that it was a pleasant time. The people of Poong's World were friendly and tolerant and generally nice. I spent a lot of my time in conference with Poong and the leaders of Poong's World.

Hafla was the Secretary of the Military. She was talking to me.

"Due to the massive effort of the war, we can't explore the anti-spinward frontier. We can't afford even a single ship away from the front lines."

"Okay." I knew that she was leading up to something.

"You say that your starship was on an exploration mission?"

"Yes, Sir, that is our mission."

"We have a huge exploration zone there. There may be new allies and new sources of energy and material to fight the Kliges'chee with. The irony is that we can't afford to take a look out there and see."

"Even if you do somehow manage to discover new allies or resources in the exploration zone, how will you exploit them? You just said that you can't afford any ships."

"The truth of the matter is that there is a balance between the risk of the exploration and the certainty of new resources. A new mission could probably be arranged for a certain return."

"And how does that relate to the Harrier, Sir?"

"Would you be adverse to scouting the Zantree Exploration Zone?"

"You're hoping that we can find you your sure thing?"

"Indelicately put, but accurate."

"You understand sir, that we won't be able to do some of the in depth surveys that could find new war material?"

"I'm not asking for a miracle, I'm looking for a break."

"Please let me examine the charts you have of the Exploration Zone and I'll talk to my Navigator. We'll see what we can do."

--

Poong showed me another chart. It was a portion of the Zantree Exploration Zone.

"One of the five founding races is called The Tabooists. Their name comes from a racial mission they have. The marked area on this chart is the Taboo Zone."

The marked area was a cylinder marking a diagonal path across the Zantree Exploration Zone.

"The Tabooists insisted that the taboo area be left alone by all members of the Zantree Alliance. At first we agreed. The Tabooists offered much in return. We all thought that humoring them was one of the first civics lessons of the Zantree Alliance."

"Now you aren't so sure." I said.

"No one but the Tabooists know what is in there. They won't tell. What if it's the break we need to defeat the Kliges'chee?"

"Are you asking me to take the Harrier in there?"

Poong's eyes twinkled. "That would be a violation of the Alliance treaty."

"How do I report what I find to you?"

"Our world has elected to act as control for the Harrier."

"So I'll be reporting to you on the results of the scouting mission?"

"Yes."

The Harrier's most direct path home went very near the Taboo Zone. "I'll let you know what we find." I said. Ruezre Vengla reported that the Harrier would be back to ninety-five percent of her original capability. We owed Poong and his people a lot.

--

A few weeks later the other shoe dropped. The Murachi Delegates met the Zantree. They tried to arrange a rescue mission to liberate their Homeworld. The Zantree could not even begin to afford it. But they liked the idea of sending delegates to the Federation. The request came and I said yes. I thought that two or three more passengers at this late date would not be a serious problem. I was wrong.

The first list was fifty three delegates long. The total list with retinues came to one hundred and forty-three beings. I quickly pointed out to Poong that the Harrier was only so big. It turned into the second biggest diplomatic negotiation in Zantree history.

The Harrier completed her refit and we took her around Poong's system. The new parts and adjusted systems settled in with only a few hiccups.

Then the Harrier returned to orbit around Poong's World and I rejoined the diplomatic fray. The engineering crew joined the rest of the crew on the shore leave list for Poong's World.

--

It took about four weeks to work all the details out. Many of the worlds in the Zantree Alliance didn't want to hear of combining delegates. The Alliance wasn't that close and many worlds were afraid that another world's delegate wouldn't fairly represent their point of view.

Eventually it was decided that only the five founding worlds would send delegates. Newer world would tie their fates to the delegates from the founding worlds.

This actually made new relationships inside the Zantree Alliance. They might remain stable, if the Zantree could survive the Kliges'chee.

Then the discussion turned to the delegates. That was a whole new can of worms. Most of the delegates eventually saw reason, and agreed to travel light. The Delegate from Youn insisted that his body guard of five Marines be included on the manifest. The Delegate was a fat, self important ninny. I figured that he would be the Federation Council's problem, when we returned home.

--

The last delegate was added at the last minute. None of the other delegates raised a word of objection. I went to the surface of Poong's World to meet the last delegate. He was deep inside the government complex of Poong's World. Poong and I took and elevator deep into the bowels of the building. We went through a heavy secured corridor and past a door with guards on it.

I went into a large chamber. In the middle of the chamber sat a transparent cube. Inside the transparent cube there was a familiar green mist. A sickly green shape slid up to the glass and peered at me with a dozen eyes.

"Greetings, Captain Hailey." The Kliges'chee said "For the sake of convenience you may call me Mike. I am the delegate from the Free Kliges'chee.

I couldn't help it. I yelled.

--

Eventually it was sorted out. The Free Kliges'chee were the back bone of the Zantree defense against the Kliges'chee comptrollers. They had as much right to send a delegate back to the UFP as anyone. However, I had an instinctive revulsion to them and it was all I could do to allow the slimy horror on my ship.

We installed Mikes' life support cube in a cargo bay on the lower decks of the Harrier. I was worried. If the life support system didn't hold, or if the Harrier was damaged, then the chances of loosing Mike the Kliges'chee were good. We didn't even have time to rig a jettison mechanism for Mike's life support cube in case we had to abandon the ship.

Mike's attitude was philosophical. "If I do not take these risks, then the Alliance between the Federation and the Zantree might be too weak. If I do go and succeed in convincing your people of the danger that threatens all of us, then the Federation might support the Zantree Alliance and the war might yet be won. Lives have been spent for far less hope."

This speech was delivered in a cultured computer monotone, while the various eyes of the Kliges'chee just stared out at me. I could tell that there was something there, but I couldn't tell what it was thinking or feeling and that disturbed me.

"Does your life mean so little to you?" I asked.

"On the contrary, my freedom is that valuable to me and more so."

That at least, I could understand. Then came time to feed Mike. It was his last real meal before being hooked up to a self contained recycling system. One of the Poong brought in a bunny. It was a little bigger than an earth rabbit and it had little horns. It struggled in the man's arms. He was grim as he approached the life support cube. He attached a pass-through port to the cube and stuffed the bunny into it.

I saw the bunny leap from the port into the environment of the Kliges'chee. The bunny shrieked and then suddenly stopped. The two hundred and fifty degree below zero temperatures had frozen its lungs. It struggled on the ground as its temperature fell.

Mike picked it up in a tentacle. The bunny's fur had frozen and protected Mike's tentacle from the burning temperature of the bunny.

The bunny kicked frantically. It was painfully blind and it was starting to freeze solid while still alive. Mike opened his mouth and popped the bunny inside. I will never forget the sight. The bunny slid down Mike's throat and into a gizzard were rocks and liquid nitrogen would quickly finish it off. I could see the impressions in Mike's skin as the bunny kicked frantically on it's way down.

"Thank you my friend. That was very satisfying." Mike said.

I had to leave.

--

Soon the Harrier was equipped and stocked as well as the Poong and the Zantree Alliance could manage. They even equipped the Harrier with the Kliges'chee shield disruptor and shield protector. The Kliges'chee had developed the shield disruptor and the Free Kliges'chee had developed a related device which neutralized the effects of the shield disruptor. These were great prizes for Starfleet. With them, Federation Starships would be nearly invincible, at least for a while.

It was with a sense of great confidence that I ordered a course set for the Zantree Exploration Zone. The Harrier was now six months shy of the Klingon Border. Almost home.

-end-


	15. Chapter 15

REP: Star Trek: Outwardly Mobile (OCC - TNG era) 14 ZTA-1, PG 1/1

Title: Star Trek: Outwardly Mobile 14 ZTA-1

Author: Jay P Hailey ST-OM, OCC - TNG era 14X/54?

Rating:PG

Archive: Fine with me, just tell me where.

Disclaimer: Paramount owns all things Star Trek. I claim Original Characters and Situations for me.

Webpage HTTP://jayphailey. Trek: Outwardly Mobile

Episode 14 ZTA-1

(Stardate 46716)

By Jay P. Hailey and Dennnis Washburn

A couple of days later, The door bell chimed in my office.

"Enter." I said. I was surprised when the Marines assigned to the Delegate from the Zantree World of Youn came in. Truth to tell, they had spiffy uniforms. They were green and black, with straps, buttons, ribbons and a neat trim.

However, as I admired the uniforms I noticed that they were not clean. I couldn't tell exactly, but some of the lines didn't seem to be set straight. The guys wearing them didn't exactly seem to be prime specimens, either.

One of the men with an extra layer of rank markings on his arm spoke. "Captain Hailey? I'm Sergeant Yung."

"How can I help you today, Sergeant?" I wondered why he was talking to me. His direct superior was the delegate.

"Well, sir, We'd like to register a complaint."

I couldn't believe my ears. "A complaint?"

"Yes, Sir, you see it's those Starfleet Marines."

"What did they do?" A fight? No, these poor guys were still walking.

"Well, ah-"

Another Marine broke in "They're always pickin' on us!" His tone was belligerent and accusatory.

"They what?"

"Well, sir there was a fight."

"Uh huh. Go ahead." I wouldn't have been notified of a minor disciplinary problem if Stephanie or Li'ira felt that they could handle it.

"Well those Starfleet Marines are really giving us a hard time. They go out their way to be mean to us, to call us names, to pick fights, you know."

"I'm not certain I understand."

The other Marine spoke up. "They hate us. They know that we're better than they are."

"Really, I think that they're jealous, Captain. They obviously feel a little insecure around us." The Sergeant said.

I was stunned. These guys were whiny, undisciplined slobs. "I see. Thank you for bringing this to my attention, gentlemen. I will look into this."

They all looked relieved. "Thank you, Captain."

As they walked out I heard one say "See, I knew he was different. He's kind of cool."

As soon as they were out of my office I called Sergeant-Major Kendricks and asked him to handle it.

--

"Hello!" The planet was saying. _"I've waiting for you for so long!"_ The messages were coded into lighting flashes that ripped though the atmosphere.

"Open a channel to the planet." I said.

Stephanie keyed a few buttons on her station and was met with a complaining buzz. "Captain, the planet doesn't seem to be receiving our subspace signals."

I looked at Tillean. This was her fault. She was the first to detect that the lighting flashes of the planet were organized signals. "Lieutenant, do you have any ideas about how to communicate with it?"

She looked at me helplessly "Not a one, Captain."

"Hmph." I said, disapprovingly.

We tried everything we could think of. Subspace signals modulated in every band that the Harrier could reach. We tried old fashioned radio signals. We even tried flashing the running lights on the Harrier in different sequences. The planet seemed not to notice any of it.

The messages coded into the lightning flashes became a little exasperated. _"Why won't you talk to me? Why did you leave me all alone? Anything might have happened!"_

Our scans of the planet were not complete. The heavy lightning flashes and weird metals in its crust along with the boiling hot nitrogen-chlorine atmosphere interfered with our sensors.

"The problem seems to be that we don't know what it's using for eyes." I said. "If we knew more about how it saw, we might be able to design a message that it could see."

"Permission to launch a probe, Captain?" Tillean liked to use probes. So did

I. No one got hurt if the planet ate one of our probes.

"Permission granted, Lieutenant."

Tillean prepared and launched a probe at the planet. The planet was the in the first, closest orbit to its star. The star seemed to be a perfectly ordinary yellow dwarf, not unlike Earth's sun.

While the planet itself was about the size of Earth its atmosphere was vastly different. It was a boiling hot, super dense mixture of nitrogen and chlorine. Ordinarily not worth a second look except to scientists interested in such things. Until we realized that it was talking to us.

It was the first thing we had looked at inside the Zantree Taboo Zone. The race that had declared the area tabooed never revealed to the rest of the Zantree why it was off limits.

We named the Planet "Zantree Taboo-Zone Anomaly Number One" or ZTA-1 for short

We tracked the probe all the way to the atmosphere. It recorded readings of detailed close up confusion similar to that recorded by the Harrier's own sensors. As the probe entered the atmosphere, we lost the signal.

"Report. What happened to the probe?" I said. The probe should have been tough enough to handle a couple of days in the atmosphere of the planet.

"Unknown, Captain." Tillean replayed the recordings looking for clues. "The signal just dropped out as the probe entered the atmosphere."

We examined our sensor records closely for the next fifteen minutes, but they held no hints of what had happened to the probe.

"Contact, Captain." Varupuchu reported. "It's the probe. It seems to be heading this way."

"Do we have communications with it?"

"No signals detected."

The probe came right back to the Harrier. We scanned it as it approached the ship. It seemed to be the same probe. None of the elements in it had changed. The small engines of the probe had the same energy signatures. Tillean reported that her sensors revealed strange electrical activity.

The probe came to within five kilometers and stopped. I had taken the Harrier to yellow alert and our shields were raised. The probe hailed us.

"This is Probe A7-TU-BL, calling starship USS Harrier NCC-45657. I'm home! Requesting permission to dock."

I opened a channel. "Probe A7-TU-BL, returning to the Harrier was not of your original programming."

The Probe sounded embarrassed "ZTA-1 sent me back. I don't know where else to go."

"Uh, stand by, Probe." I gave the signal to close the channel.

Li'ira looked at me. "What in the world?"

I shook my head. "I have no idea."

Tillean said. "That scares me a little."

Spaat turned and said "Perhaps the Probe's programming was changed in an attempt to communicate with us?"

Varupuchu blandly said "Perhaps we should send a probe to probe the probe?"

I stared at him. This was a totally uncharacteristic outburst from the dower

Andorian. Tillean snickered.

Stephanie growled "This situation isn't funny. The probe represents a danger to the ship. Captain, my recommendation is to destroy it."

Li'ira said "I agree that it's a tricky situation, but I'd like to know more about it."

Tillean said "But, the probe hasn't done anything yet."

I made my decision. "Clear shuttle bay two. Stephanie, get with Ensign Bruce to secure the computer against intrusion. Mr. Varupuchu, reinforce the structural integrity field in the shuttle bay. Establish isolation fields on the entrances and exits to the bay. Lt. Darvon Ahk, call for volunteers to examine Probe A7-TU-BL."

Everyone looked at me for a beat and then got to work. It felt wonderful.

When the bay was prepared I called the probe. "Probe A7-TU-BL, you are cleared to dock in shuttle bay two."

"Thank you Captain!" The Probe said.

--

While Tillean and her crew examined the probe, Lt. Commander Varupuchu continued to scan the planet. It had an artificial core. It was generating some sort of energy, but we couldn't tell what kind or how much.

About an hour later, Tillean called me to say that her preliminary examination of the Probe was complete. There were no viruses or contaminants on board the probe. It seemed to pose no physical danger.

I went down to the shuttle bay.

--

The shuttle bays had rooms in them designed to allow work crews to get into space suits and be briefed on a job, These rooms had exits into the Shuttle bays and to airlocks that led to the outer hull of the Harrier.

Tillean was briefing me. "This is a schematic of the inside of the Probe." The screen came to life displaying it to me.

Most of it looked like a perfectly ordinary probe. There was the casing, there were the fuel tanks, there were the engines, there were the krellide storage cells and there were the subspace coils for the communications system. However, the electronics of the probe were all different. They seemed at first to be a sort of gray, undifferentiated mass. As Tillean zoomed in, the mass began to look different. As the scan zoomed closer and closer I could see broad lumps and groupings of the mass.

Finally the zoom in went into the realm of the microscopic and I could see what we were looking at. What looked like a gray lumpy mass was really small electronic neurons. They were as complex as anything I had ever seen. I didn't know if the Federation could build them.

"The neurons are made out of the same elements that composed the computers and electronics of the probe. Each individual neuron seems to be a simple adaptive computer circuit but there over one hundred billion of them."

"You mean it has a brain?"

"Yes Captain, a quite complex one. Another thing. The mass of the Probe has not changed. Whatever did this used only the material that we provided them."

"Okay, tell me what you've learned of its programming."

Tillean looked embarrassed. "Not much, although he seems to be pretty nice."

I had a bad moment then. In the middle Twenty-First century on Earth, things were pretty bad. The Third World War was well under way. The eventual death toll was a billion people. In the Twenty-First century no one would have recognized the term World War Three. What we called the Third World War was really about four wars that over-lapped in a long haze of violence and misery.

There was the Eugenics Wars in the nineteen nineties. These actually started in the twentieth century when Khan Noonian Singh invaded Kuwait from Iraq. By nineteen ninety-five they had gone nuclear. The Middle East struggled for forty years to recover from the disaster.

Then civilization seemed to collapse under its own weight. The bad times came, poverty and violence swept the world. This allowed Colonel Green's Optimum Movement to have its stab for power.

The Optimum Movement was Social Darwinism taken to a bizarre extreme. They felt that a cabal of people with high intelligence measurements should rule the world, and were willing to take whatever actions necessary to advance that goal.

Their leader, Colonel Green had one of the highest measured intellects in the world. He was outraged because his definable superiority was not rewarded with promotion.

In the end the Optimum Movement died when Colonel Green was found to have invented the whole story and the whole movement in an attempt to grab for personal power. His personal notes indicated that he felt that people with measurably high intelligence were easily manipulated emotionally by using their "Superior" status. If he hadn't died during a battle in the Philippines, his scheme might have worked.

The final insult to the world was the limited nuclear exchange that finished off the collapse and exacerbated the ecological disaster. Humanity hit bottom. There was nowhere to go from there but death or progress.

The third wave of warfare and violence left its mark also. The technological nations of the world tried to find a gadget to fix the world. What they came up with were a series of anthropomorphic androids. They were meant to do the scut-work of civilized society. They were also the geishas, hookers and personal servants. They were all physically perfect. Then some maniac hacked them and randomized their programs.

"Take a Chance." That one phrase led the AI's onto the warpath. They slaughtered a couple of million people before they were all destroyed. They actually managed to replace several key world leaders with AI duplicates. They also made electronically implanted mind control devices.

Following this, the Earth had a violent and extremely negative reaction to artificial intelligence in any form. It was a distinct psychological condition called "Frankenstein's Syndrome". The people of Earth lived in morbid fear of creating the monster that would destroy them. Robots and Artificial Intelligence were the bad guys of Earth for another three hundred years.

Even today the old prejudice was rampant. Cybernetic systems could replace lost or damaged organs and limbs, but they were always kept hidden, and replaced with organics as soon as the unfortunate cripple could. A human body mixed with a machine was an abomination. A sell out to the monster.

The android Data was the first to confront this backlash. The Borg had simply confirmed the prejudices. Men were meant to rule machines. Never the reverse. Never.

The Vicharrians had made their fortunes with robotic systems. They had never been traumatized like Earth and they never made many sales there. Tillean was much more open to the concept of a strange alien-built neural network running our probe than I was.

Eventually she convinced me to talk to the probe itself. I agreed although my first impulse was to jettison the thing and blast it with full phasers.

--

I walked across the deck of the shuttle bay towards the probe. From a distance it looked like any other probe. The schematic that Tillean briefed me with showed that all the scientific instruments and sensors had been distributed throughout the probe casing by microscopic circuits. Every inch of the probe's surface was a sensor that watched my approach.

The probe rested on a service cradle and its access door was open. As I approached I could see that the access door opened to reveal the standard Federation interface panel.

"Attention Probe A7-TU-BL." I barked. "Identify."

"Why, you're Captain Jay P. Hailey. Access code Delta Gamma Mu. My highest access code." It sounded a bit awed.

"Report all data recorded on target ZTA-1." My tone was still harsh. This probe was a positive danger.

"Do you wish me to report by voice or data channel, Sir?"

I looked at Tillean "Do we have a computer memory readied to hold and analyze the data?"

She looked around, but didn't seem to find anything that was unoccupied. She turned to a technician and said "Grab me a C-128 unit, make sure that the memory is cleared and that the subspace datalink is disabled."

I returned to the Probe. "Summarize by voice, until capacity can be cleared for your data."

"Okay. First, ZTA-1 is a sentient entity. Secondly, it's artificial in nature. Third, its primary purpose is to be a haven for life forms. Fourth, it has been abandoned for a long time. Fifth, it is desperately lonely for life forms to occupy it, so that its primary function can be fulfilled. Do you need any clarification?"

"How did you scan this data?"

"Item one was confirmed by personal contact. The second was in the memories of ZTA-1 as well as being confirmed by laser altimeter seismology reading of the planet's core which reveal that seismic waves have a symmetrical transmission pattern through the core. The third, fourth and fifth items were told to me directly by ZTA-1 itself."

"Hmph. Do you still hold the standard diagnostic programs?"

"Yes. Program number four, Standard Federation Adaptive Self-Diagnostic Program Release twenty four, probe version, with added diagnostics for a type four probe, which is me."

"Run it, please."

Yes, Sir." The Probe seemed eager to please. I resolved not to let that interfere with my judgment.

"Ooooh. I can feel my drives, all the important subsystems. They seem okay, but the program crashes whenever I try to run it on my brain. I guess the design is just too different."

"Can you tell me what happened to you?"

"Yes. I was activated on Stardate 48619.1, just a couple of hours ago. I was loaded with targeting and navigational data as well as sensor routines for the target ZTA-1. I was launched and proceeded to the target on the specified trajectory. I made atmospheric entry at time index 73.3."

"Once inside the atmosphere, what happened?"

"I noted the loss of signal with starship USS Harrier NCC-45657. Do I have to use the full name and serial number every time?"

"Can you keep track of which ship we're talking about when we only use the name?"

"This is the only Federation ship present at this time. I think I can keep it straight, sir."

"Then call her the Harrier."

"Affirmative. Anyway, I noted the loss of signal and went into recording mode. Then I was caught and examined by ZTA-1. At this point, things changed. This was time index 73.345. My first consciously aware thought was that ZTA-1 thought that I was nearly hopeless but that it would make a few minor adjustments to enhance my function. Since I'm a probe, and my function is to gather data, I asked it what was happening. Then it told me the things I related to you earlier."

"What is your purpose now, Probe A7-TU-BL?"

"Just exactly what I'm doing now, Sir." The probe said happily. "To learn about things and then bring the data home and tell you about it."

"How did ZTA-1 communicate with you?"

"I don't really know. The signals seem to generate inside my new brain."

"Can you communicate with ZTA-1?"

"I do not know. Would you like me to try?"

"Yes, Please."

"I'll have to ask you to stand back. My subspace coil will generate a pulse of two hundred and fifty millicochranes. This is dangerous to organic life forms within a distance of two meters." It was the automated warning, except that it was delivered with feeling.

I stood well back. So did the rest of the crew examining the probe. I watched he signal on a tricorder. The Probe sent a standard automated hail.

"I'm sorry, Captain." The Probe called. "Something seems to be jamming my signal. Are there force fields in the way?"

I went back up to the probe "Please power down your subspace coil." The probe complied.

"Tillean analyze the signal. Find out if there were there any added features to the signal."

"Aye, sir."

--

The Probe didn't know anything about communicating with the planet either. I had a nice afternoon chatting with it. It seemed friendly and eager to please. For the next day, we talked to the probe and explored it.

The planet itself bothered me. Some of the power emanations from the artificial core looked familiar. They had a certain resemblance to the power readings from Rishan Pleasure Base Number Five.

The planet had grown quiet while we talked with the probe. It wasn't sending the frantic messages in lighting form anymore. I had the feeling that it was watching us.

I figured that the probe was speaking more clearly than it knew when it said that it was fulfilling its purpose. It was learning things and reporting. I just figured that the planet was somehow monitoring the probe. Most of the crew shared my feeling although we had no real evidence to support it.

I was unable to sleep that night. I couldn't relax. I was waiting for the other shoe to drop. Either we would get a handle on communicating with the thing or it would decide that we were... something. The Pleasure Base had functioned on us like it was supposed to, with no judgment or hindrance. When someone responsible realized that we were too primitive, it ran us off.

The planet tried to speak to us using its normal communications channel. We didn't respond. We sent the probe. Now it was figuring us out...

I got out of bed and called the bridge. "I'm coming up there. Get ready to move out."

"Aye, Sir." Was the reply.

I threw on my pants and my jacket and went up to the bridge carrying my shoes.

I hopped out of the turbo lift struggling to get my shoe on. I hopped over to the Captain's chair and sat down getting a better grip on the shoe. "Are we ready to go?" I grunted while bent over. I was getting a little thicker around the middle than I really wanted to admit.

The officer of the bridge, Ensign Spaat watched me calmly from the Flight Control station. "Yes, Captain. All stations report ready for space."

"Take us out of orbit, one half impulse." I didn't want to bolt. After all, nothing had actually happened, yet.

"Wake up Lieutenant Darvon Ahk, please. Tell her to get a crew down to shuttle bay two."

"Aye, sir."

"Then make sure that security is alerted. I want to be prepared in case the probe makes a ruckus."

--

I walked into Shuttle Bay Two. Tillean was there. She was barefoot. I noticed that her uniform was somewhat disheveled, too. I figured I was lucky that she hadn't come down to the Shuttle bay in her night gown. If she wore one.

"Report."

"Everything is in the same shape as when we left it, sir. The guards monitoring said that they haven't noticed any changes."

"I'm fine. Captain." The Probe chimed in.

I turned to focus my attention on Tillean. "Prepare to jettison the probe. We're leaving the system."

"But," Tillean was horrified. I was running out just as she was getting really involved in the whole puzzle. Looking in my face she realized that I was serious and somewhat nervous. She accepted my order.

"You're going to abandon me here?" The Probe asked.

I looked at it for a moment. It was an alien machine. A dangerous and unpredictable Artificial Intelligence that could be programmed to perfectly mimic appealing human emotions while awaiting the perfect chance to strike. Nevertheless, I couldn't ignore the hurt tone in its output.

"You belong here, with ZTA-1." I said. "That's your home now."

"But I'm a Federation probe, Sir!"

"No, you were a Federation probe. Now you're... something else. Maybe you can help it find some life forms."

The probe sounded heartbroken. "I'm sorry. I was built to explore space with a Federation starship. I was really hoping that you would take me along, when you left."

"Why can't you explore space with ZTA-1?"

"It's not the same. It doesn't think of me as a tool to use or a thing with a function. I saw it in its mind when it was transforming me. I'm not real to ZTA-1. It will probably just ignore me."

I rolled my eyes. It was getting harder to ignore the pleading in the probe's voice. "Look at it from my position. How do I know that you don't pose a danger to the Harrier?"

"If I were a photon torpedo, I would have detonated by now. Other than that I can't say. But I'll do anything to prove that I'm not dangerous. I'm not fueled anymore. I can't really explode. Please let me stay!"

"Captain, I can rig a service cradle on the outer hull. He can ride along on the outside." Tillean suggested.

"Please?" The probe begged "All I want to do is ride along and explore things with you."

Shooting a dirty look at Tillean I said "All right. On one condition. You have to try to make sure that we know everything that's going on inside your new brain. If we know this and can confirm it independently, then we know if you're a danger."

"Okay!" The probe happily said

"Aye, Sir!" Tillean was nearly as happy.

"Captain to the Bridge!" Li'ira called over the intercom.

--

"The planet has changed course to intercept us." Spaat said.

I boggled. "What?"

He said again, slowly and precisely. "The planet ZTA-1 has changed course to intercept us."

I got a serious case of the willies. "Time until intercept?"

"Thirty-seven years, ten months, nine days, six hours, twenty-three minutes and approximately ten seconds, assuming that we don't change course before then."

My willies died down a little bit. "Really?"

"I estimate that the power expressed is somewhere in the seventh magnitude, on the standard Vulcan scale of planetary energy." Spaat said.

My willies returned. In the twenty-fourth century, the planet Earth had stayed firmly in the fifth magnitude of energy generation. It was the scale for rating an entire civilization. ZTA-1 had just used as much energy as one hundred Earths.

"Can you read any signs of weapons or tractor beams?" I asked. With the power levels available to ZTA-1 it could push a phaser beam a billion miles and still have it be powerful enough to destroy the Harrier.

"No, Captain. It is possible that our sensors are not capable of detecting any."

"Yellow alert. Take us to full impulse."

The Harrier's speed increased. More officers came to the bridge in response to the yellow alert. Stephanie Anderson took her position. So did Harksain Varupuchu.

Spaat studied the sensor data closely and ran the calculations through the navigational computers. "The Planet has once again changed course to intercept. Estimated time of intercept, one hundred and eighty years."

"Change course to zero mark 180 relative bearing." I ordered the Harrier's nose pointed out of the plane of the ecliptic. It would take much more energy to shift ZTA's course away from the ecliptic of its primary.

The Harrier sped away from the Planet. Our range was really opening up, now, nearing a million kilometers. "Any changes in the Planet's heading?"

"None, Captain."

The Harrier lurched. It was a bad one. It wasn't as though the Harrier tilted, it was as though she suddenly shifted several inches to the side. I picked myself up off the deck and said "Red alert! Report please."

Stephanie Anderson picked herself up and got to her station. She began reading off damage reports. "Main power is out. Engineering reports that the warp power will be restored in five minutes. Auxiliary power is operational at eighty-five percent. Photon Torpedoes are off-line. Phasers are available."

Varupuchu reported "We are in a powerful and localized gravity field. It is too powerful for our impulse engines to break out of."

"The Planet has us?"

"I can not confirm that. I can not determine an origin for the gravity waves."

I knew that using our warp drives in the gravity field would be quite risky. Starships don't engage their engines near planets because the gravity of the planet can be slightly different from one warp engine nacelle to the next. It would take sensitive equipment to measure the difference. Magnify that

difference by warp speeds and the nacelles can be miles apart in the blink of an eye. This is not a healthy experience.

"Are we stationary or moving, relative to ZTA-1?"

Spaat checked. "We are moving back to ZTA-1 at a constant rate."

"Li'ira, you have the con." I said. he accepted command of the bridge and I ran down to Shuttle Bay Two.

As I ran in, the reason that Tillean had not reported to the bridge became clear. The jolt that had thrown me out of my seat had also thrown scientific equipment all over the shuttle bay. Tillean and her crew were working with a medical team to free a trapped crewman. He was pinned underneath a temporary console.

The Probe had fallen off of its service cradle and was lying at an angle against the deck and the cradle.

"Probe A7-TU-BL, report."

"I fell down. With no fuel I can't correct my attitude." The Probe sounded resigned "Chief Petty Officer Krakowski was pinned under the system analysis module and has been injured. I hope he'll be repairable."

"That jolt was ZTA-1 capturing us. Do you know what it wants?"

"Oh, yes, Captain. More than anything else it wants to nurture life forms on its surface. You're just the first examples that have happened along."

"It wants sentient life forms?" I had a vision of myself and my descendants as the hostages of a mad planet.

"No Captain. Any life forms."

"Then why doesn't it build them? The work it did on you was easily complex enough to allow building life forms."

"I am not a true life form, according to ZTA-1. Although my mental processes are easily more complicated than many life forms, ZTA-1 feels that a natural life form is superior to an artificial one. It's ironic. I can't imagine the difference between molecules assembled deliberately or by accident, but to ZTA-1 that makes all the difference."

"Yeah," I grumbled "Ironic. Could we give ZTA-1 simple life forms and fulfill its needs?"

"I suppose so."

I turned to the crowd that was concentrated around CPO Krakowski. "Tillean, please go down to the Arboretum and grab some plants. Grab examples that will fit in the Probe's payload bay and bring them back here."

Tillean looked at me. She was shocked "Captain, Krakowski's pinned." She waved at him.

"All due respect Lieutenant, did you hear what the Captain said?" Krakowski grated from under the console.

We looked at him. "Being pinned is painful and boring, Sirs. I heard every word."

"Besides Lieutenant, there are enough people here to pull him out without us interfering. Please go now. We're in a little trouble, here." I added.

Dubiously, Tillean left to carry out my instructions. I picked several science and engineering people who were standing around being concerned about Krakowski.

"You, you and you, come help with the Probe." It had been a while since I was on a probe crew but I remembered the basics. We hefted him back onto his cradle and fueled him up.

"Ah! That feels nice!" He said.

The medical team stabilized Krakowski and said "Go!" The engineers still in that effort turned on antigravity units and set the console drifting slowly but definitely towards the roof of the shuttle bay. Krakowski cursed a blue streak as the Console lifted off of his leg. I have seen industrial accidents before, but I still hate them. I wasn't able to turn away in time and I saw Krakowski's leg squished flat through the lower thigh. There was a lot of blood on the deck and some of it dripped off the console as it rose. The medical team ran off with Krakowski on a stretcher. They got clear of the force fields shielding the bay and were beamed to sickbay.

I continued what I was doing. I went to a console and entered my access code. I pulled out the current navigational files and a file on horticulture. I took the files back to the Probe and stuck the isolinear chips into the appropriate slot.

"Aha! Good idea Captain!" The Probe was enthusiastic.

"Can you maintain a class M environment inside your shell long enough to take the plants to ZTA-1?"

"If I have a small life support module installed, it should be a snap! That's part number P9-U8-4T, Life Support System, Small, Standard Environment."

In a few moments we set the Probe up and got him centered on the launch platform. Tillean came back with the plants and we clipped them inside the Probe's payload bay.

As we ran out of the bay the doors swept open. The force fields held in the atmosphere. I turned and stopped. It was an excellent view out of the bay. "Permission to launch, Captain?" Tillean said over the intercom. Her voice echoed in the shuttle bay. I nodded and waved her on.

The tractor beam lit up and I both heard and felt the throbbing hum as it gently lifted the Probe out of his cradle and pushed him out side of the Harrier. There was a slight gust of wind as the force field bubbled to let him through.

--

After the Probe entered the atmosphere of ZTA-1, we lost the signal again. In a few moments we saw the Probe rise again. At the same time a bubble of class "M" environment appeared under the point where the probe entered the atmosphere of ZTA-1.

We saw ZTA-1 rearrange its orbit further away from the star, Then its atmosphere started to change, flooding with carbon dioxide, an element necessary for plants to grow.

ZTA-1 seemed to lose interest in us completely, after that. The Probe returned to the Harrier. It reported that ZTA-1 seemed deliriously happy upon the transfer of the plants and seemed to become wrapped up in its own concerns.

Tillean and the Probe discovered how to access his neural nets and examine the programming found there. It was simply the Probes original programming which had expanded and adapted to fit its new environment.

I allowed the Probe to stay with the Harrier. There were a raft of issues to resolve, but the Probe felt that he was a Federation loyalist, if not a citizen. I was reluctant to abandon a sentient creature that knew what I was doing to it, and could feel sad about it. He still made me nervous, and I believe that Stephanie Anderson made a point of keeping an eye on him.

As soon as he found that he could stay, he asked to be referred to as "Bill" a name he felt was more palatable than "Probe A7-TU-BL". And so Bill the Probe joined our strange crew.

--

We left the system of ZTA-1 and moved on. The next star was three light years away. Exactly. To ten decimal places. That made me nervous. A light year is the distance that light takes to travel in one year. Since the year in question is one of Earth's years, the coincidence of a star system being located a precise multiple of light years away was too much to accept.

During the first two days of the trip, the star was a G5 spectral type a little smaller and cooler than Earth's sun. On the third day of the trip, the star changed to a G3 type, almost identical to Earth's sun.

Later on the third day as we entered the system, we scanned eight major planets and a multitude of smaller planetoids. The outer four planets were all gas giants with extensive rings systems and moons.

The seventh planet was laid over on its side at almost ninety degrees to the plane of the ecliptic.

The third planet was Earth-like. Really, really Earth-like. It appeared to be a replica of Earth set about four centuries in our past.

They hailed us with old fashioned radio waves. The travel time on the messages was about an hour, but they seemed to know roughly where we'd be. After I cautiously answered the first message, we received a long signal explaining that all of this planet's history had lead them to expect us at this moment. They were prepared for our visit, which would begin a planetary time of celebration and renewal. Our arrival signaled the beginning of a new golden age of happiness.

I chickened out. I sealed up the ship and ordered that no further signals would be answered.

My decision was justified when they put my mother on the radio. She begged me to speak to her and to stop by for the planned visit.

As soon as possible we warped out of the system. The day after, we reached a distance of one light year from this strange Virtual Earth. The G3 star disappeared and was replaced with the smaller G5 type.

We reported these things back to the Zantree and Poong's world.

--

Another two days passed. I signed off on Krakowski's medical report. Dr. Flynn had managed to rebuild his leg. A few weeks of light duty and therapy and he would be back on duty. My doorbell rang again. I said "Enter." The Youn Delegate squeezed himself into my office. This was quite a trick. My office wasn't all that big to begin with. He had his Sergeant with him. "Uh-oh." I thought. Sergeant Yung had a black eye.

The pompous delegate drew him self up and said "Captain, I must lodge an official protest."

"Yes, Mr. Delegate?"

"Please, it's Your Honor'," The Delegate corrected "Your Starfleet Marines. They must be stopped and punished."

"What have they done?"

"They savagely beat my honor guard, sir! This act could have far reaching and dire consequences. Already word of this atrocity is already spreading among the Zantree Delegates."

My voice turned cold "They what?"

"Tell him, Sergeant." The delegate turned to the leader of his honor guard.

The Sergeant stood with his shoulders hunched, his eyes on the deck. He was sulking.

"They beat us up." He said, sulkily. I could see his pride dying a hideous death while he said it.

"I don't mind telling you, Captain, that I take the safety of my honor guard very seriously. Very seriously, you see, for the Sergeant is also my nephew." The delegate's message was plain. Treat him right or eat hot politics.

I was able to keep a straight face while the remains of the Sergeant's self respect and pride died.

--

The two Starfleet Marines stood at attention. I hadn't seen such a tight attention pose since the Academy. The young Marine was a private. He was nervous. Watching Sergeant-Major Kendrick's body language, I could easily see why. It had been years since my academy days, but I was still nervous. Kendricks was stock still and his body was completely rigid. There was a ghastly pink undertone to his skin that spoke of laps and push ups and peeling potatoes and latrine duty until you passed out.

My shoulders were reminding me that it had been many years since I had done twenty push ups and if I tried it at this point I was going to pay.

I got a hold of myself. "Sergeant-Major. I have just received ..." I tried to make my tone as dry and ironic as possible "...a complaint."

His pink tone got deeper. I continued before my natural instincts to shut up when the Sergeant was angry took over. "I'm certain that you have a point of view on this matter."

The Sergeant-Major growled. "Those Youn Marines are not the most diligent of men."

I looked at him. He gritted his teeth and continued. "Private Simpson entered the lounge yesterday at approximately 14:30 hours. He reported encountering the Youn Marines in the Lounge. Since they were not speaking to him he ignored them and continued with his recreation." From the Sergeant's tone I could almost picture the Marine Corps Basic Training Manual on Beginning Recreation. The recruits would have to practice recreation in groups by the counts of their Sergeants.

"Private Simpson, in the act of recreation noticed that the Youn Marines were harassing one of their own number." His tone was grim. I understood why. For Marines to publicly pick on one of their own squad, the discipline in their unit had to be nearly nonexistent.

"Private Simpson, knowing that such behavior was unworthy of anyone who called themselves Marines went over to try to reason with them. His sentimentality also played a role. He hoped to provide some relief to the individual who was being harassed." Sergeant-Major Hendricks tone told what he thought of

sentimentality in a Marine. I thought it was nice thing to try to do.

"The Youn Marines turned on Private Simpson, growing abusive and aggressive towards him." Kendricks paused for effect.

"When the Youn Marines grew bold enough to physically abuse Private Simpson, he was forced to subdue them until the arrival of ship's Security." Simpson looked embarrassed.

"Just him?" I asked.

Kendricks pinned Simpson on a glare. Simpson cleared his throat. "Yes, Sir. It was only me."

I was stunned. "How many of the Youn Marines were there?"

"All of them sir. All five."

"What, even the guy you were trying to help?"

"Yes, sir." Simpson was bright red. He wasn't amused. He was honestly embarrassed. The situation had become ugly and then the Youn Marines had given a pathetic accounting of themselves.

After a few embarrassing moments I had an idea. "Private, you are dismissed." I said.

Kendricks looked at me and then nodded to Simpson. The young Starfleet Marine fled my office.

"Captain, this won't happen again." He said. His tone frightened me. How many laps around the Harrier could a Marine do before he died? I didn't want to find out.

"One guy?" I asked.

Kendricks nodded bitterly. His Marines were excellent at what they did, but this wasn't a measure of that. The Youn "Marines" were pathetic.

"Those guys are dangerous." I said. I pictured that group of pathetic whiners with phaser rifles. I pictured them panicking in a battle I shuddered.

"I think I could convince the Delegate that a combined training exercise would be a good idea, Sergeant. Do you think that you could handle those Youn Marines?" I asked.

Sergeant-Major Kendricks said "It's been a while since I ran a class through boot camp, Captain. I would enjoy the chance." He grinned ferally.

I feared for the lives and sanity of the poor losers from Youn at the hands of Sergeant-Major Kendricks.

--

"Captain Hailey?" The Delegate of Youn's voice sounded stressed.

"Yes, Your Honor?"

"Would you please come to my quarters? I would like to speak with you."

"I'll be there soon."

I wandered down to the quarters assigned to the delegate of the Youn. I pressed on the door bell to announce my self. The door opened.

The artificial gravity had been turned off in the Delegates quarters. Furniture and luggage belonging to the Delegate floated randomly around the compartment.

I saw Sergeant Logan and the second squad of Marines floating naked in the quarters. They all floated randomly around the room, holding themselves stiffly at attention. Their uniforms drifted independently around the room also. Little slips of paper floated around the room, also. I snatched a slip of paper as it went by. It said "The Delegate from Youn shall be refereed to as Your Honor." It was signed by both the delegate and Sergeant Logan.

The Delegate floated in the middle of the room, holding onto a table. He looked miserably unhappy. One of the Marines drifted into him and he gently pushed the man away.

The delegate made his way towards me from fixture to fixture in a zero-g hand over hand style. He tried to cross the thresh hold out of his quarters but miss-judged the change to full gravity and fell heavily down on the deck of the corridor.

I helped him up, and we walked a short distance away from his quarters.

"Captain, upon thoughtful consideration I find that your offer of joint training exercises, while of commendable intent are simply not practical. I wish you would return my Marine Honor Guard to me and take your own fine young Marines back with you."

"I'm terribly sorry, Your Honor, they have recently entered the Holodeck for an extended training exercise with Sergeant-Major Kendricks. To remove them now with a series of half formed survival traits and reflexes would not only ruin them as Marines, it might drive them mad."

"Really? How unfortunate! Uncalled for really. I may have to lodge a complaint. Er, How long did you say that this exercise was to continue for?"

"Approximately four weeks depending on how your Marines fare in the early going."

"Four weeks?" Despite the cultured tones, the Delegate had the look of a trapped animal. "Oh, dear."

He pressed on "It might drive my Marines mad if you released them now?"

"Sadly, yes."

"How mad, exactly?"

"The most common threat is homicidal mania, followed by suicidal depression."

"Suicidal depression?" The Delegate said hopefully.

"Yes. From the fragments and the ship's recorder marker, it seems that some poor tortured soul sabotaged the starship he was on. It was lost, with all hands. Since then, we don't interrupt the training cycle if we can help it."

"All hands?" He squeaked.

"Yes, so you see it's vital that your boys complete the training regimen. I simply can't allow them to quit."

"I see, I see." It was the voice of a man coming to terms with his own death.

"I can have the Marines reassigned, if you like, but that would leave you without an honor guard."

"But, what about my status?"

"I'm not certain of the effect that it would have on your status."

"No, Captain, I'm sure that you don't. It's all right, I'll try to make it through, somehow."

He turned and stiffly walked back into his quarters. He resumed his float in the middle of the room miserably.

"Sergeant Logan, may I speak to you out here in the corridor?" I said.

The Sergeant moved with a reasonable amount of grace and alacrity to join me out in the corridor. Anyone who speculates about humanity evolving into a space borne race hasn't seen naked Marines in zero-g.

Logan came to attention in the corridor. I noticed that we were drawing looks. I was using the Japanese etiquette which says "Nakedness is seen, but not noticed." Several female crew members on the Harrier did not see it that way.

"Report, please, Sergeant."

"The Delegate was somewhat vague with his orders, Sir. I requested clarification."

"Does this have anything to do with a White Mutiny?"

"Sir! No, Sir!" His expression was carefully neutral. The Marines had a time honored method of putting an arrogant CO in his place. It was called a "White Mutiny." In a white mutiny, the officers and crew members interpret the unfortunate victim's orders as literally as possible. It was a standard technique for training superior officers to think before they speak. They pulled it on us in command school. I remembered my own run in with it quite ruefully. The Delegate from Youn was having about as much fun with it as anyone did.

"I see. Carry on Sergeant."

"Aye Captain." He saluted and then with perfect self possession turned and marched back into the delegates quarters.

--

The next day, the door bell to my office rang again. I considered having it disconnected, but instead I said "Enter."

Two of the Youn Marines came in. They were wearing the gray fatigues that were standard issue for recruits in boot camp. They were dirty and disheveled. I noticed that one of them was the especially whiny Marine from my earlier encounter. He had scratches on the side of his face. I thought that it looked like the live fire phaser exercise. The live fire phaser exercise had one crawling beneath barbed wire while the Sergeant fired phaser beams over your head. The recruits were told that it was set on disintegrate, but I doubted that. That is, until I got into the trench. Then I believed with all of my heart.

I knew that the training was working. They came to attention and saluted me. I returned the salute and said "Yes, gentlemen?"

"Sir, we have to report that Sgt. Major Kendricks is dangerously insane, Sir."

Somehow I managed to keep a straight face. "Really?"

They were frightened about half out of their minds. "Oh, yes. He took us into the Holodeck and started to torture us. We barely escaped. He might kill the other guys when he finds that we're gone."

The other one chimed in. "Please don't let him get us!"

"He made Sergeant Yung do push ups until he passed out!" The young man was horrified.

"Hmmm." I said, thinking furiously.

"Please do something!"

"These are very serious charges." I began. "Are you sure that you want to press the issue?"

They looked at each other.

"I mean, it's been quite some time since we've had a trial by ordeal in Starfleet. I'm certain we could find the equipment to perform trial or at least replicate it. But I don't know if I remember the invocations correctly."

The two gulped almost in unison. The leader of the two spoke. "Trial by ordeal, Sir?"

"Well, yes, in cases of challenges to a superior officer's sanity, we invoke the gods and put the two sides through trial by ordeal. The gods favor the side of righteousness, you see."

"The Gods?" He squeaked. The other one was just looking at me with big eyes.

"Well, yes. It's the only really fair option. The counselor has known Sergeant-Major Kendricks for the entire trip. Do you want to trust him for an impartial judgment?"

"Uh...uh..."

"Fortunately such challenges are very rare in the modern Starfleet. We rarely even flog people anymore."

"Flog?"

"Well, that's only if the Sergeant finds out that you've come directly to me. We place great weight on the chain of command, in Starfleet. But don't worry. If you press the challenge, the we go straight to the trial by ordeal. No floggings."

"Ah... ah.."

"We've got to go!" The other Marine grabbed his friend and started to drag him out of my office.

"Er, yeah! Sorry to bother you, Sir."

I was amazed when they both stopped and saluted me on the way out of my office.

--

The day after that, The delegate from the Tabooists came to me. "Captain, may I speak with you?"

"Certainly, Sir." We went to my office, where I offered the Delegate a beverage from my replicator.

"It has come to my attention that we have entered the Taboo Zone."

I bit the bullet. "Yes, Sir, that is correct."

"My government has asked me to express our disapproval in the strongest possible terms. We request with utmost sincerity that you turn your ship about and exit the Taboo Zone."

"I'm sorry, Sir, I have made an agreement with the Poong to continue this course."

"That is regrettable. I am authorized to make any possible argument to convince you that this is an imprudent course of action. Knowing what I know of your trip and your actions I will save time by using my most persuasive argument, the truth."

"Do you mind if I record this?"

"Not at all. My respected brothers have met in council and have decided that the knowledge of our sacred trust will be made available to all."

I set the computer to record.

"Our most ancient mission is to guard this region of space. We do not guard secrets from the unworthy. We guard the unprepared against those secrets. Approximately eighty thousand years ago there lived an advanced race called the Rishans. Their race was ancient and their powers dwarf the understanding of mortals."

"In time they grew so advanced and so powerful that their motivations were no longer such that we could grasp them. Shortly after this, as such things are measured, they moved on. We know not where."

"They raised up our race as children, and gave us our mission to guard the area of the Taboo Zone. Primitive people such as your Federation, the Zantree Alliance or ourselves are in terrible danger when trespassing in the area once inhabited by the Rishans. In their haste to move on, they were untidy. They left their ancient wonders behind. These things are simply beyond the understanding of our races. Yet they may endanger us. They can change us. Individuals among the Tabooists sometimes break the taboo, and enter the zone on a quest to understand our progenitor race. Few return. Many have been quite mad. Some have had the powers of the Rishans, uncontrolled except by their primitive minds. Even amongst us, the faithful, the results have been tragic and bloody. The results among your Federation worlds or our own Zantree Alliance will be worse for you have little or no knowledge of what you're dealing with."

"Uh-huh." I said.

"Will you please reconsider?"

"I certainly would, if it would do us any good. However, we have reached the furthest point inside the Taboo Zone. It is just as far to keep going forward as it is to go backwards."

"Oh."

"Yeah."

-end-


	16. Chapter 16

REP: Star Trek: Outwardly Mobile (OCC - TNG era) 15 - The Rosette, PG 1/1

Title: Star Trek: Outwardly Mobile 15 - The Rosette 1/1  
Author: Jay P Hailey OCC - TNG era 15/54?  
Rating:PG  
Archive: Fine with me, just tell me where.  
Disclaimer: Paramount owns all things Star Trek. I claim Original Characters and Situations for me.  
Webpage HTTP://jayphailey. The Rosette  
Star Trek: Outwardly Mobile  
Episode 15: The Rosette  
(Stardate 46760)  
By  
Jay P. Hailey  
And  
Dennnis Washburn

In my dream, I was standing next to a stream. There was a pretty, soft red grass under my feet and a tree nearby that looked like it had a lot of green hair.I was on a small rise and I could see a city off in the distance. It looked like someone had put a lot of thought into the design of the city. It was a single large tower. Inside the tower I could see breeze ways and pass-throughs. The upper surfaces were covered with a riot of foliage. It had an organic look, as though it had been grown rather than built.The sky was blue, with a hint of green. A soft breeze blew past me and carried the smell of the life forms of the planet. It felt and smelled wonderful. It had been a little while since I had been off the USS Harrier and on the surface of a planet. I marveled at the clarity of my dream.A couple of young people came out of the trees and approached the rise I was standing on. They held hands and their body language told me that they were out for a romantic stroll.The basket that the young man carried and the blanket that the young lady carried told me that they were going to have a picnic. I couldn't imagine a better place to have one.I waited patiently for them to see me. I didn't want to startle them. They did not see me. They looked right through me. I didn't think that I was visible to them. I had the feeling that I was watching a past event, although I couldn't really say why.They were speaking softly and happily to each other in a language that I didn't know. It seemed to be the language of the world that we had just visited, but I didn't want to take anything for granted.I had the feeling that the two people were young, although it was hard to tell. They were humanoid, but not human. They had a distinctly simian appearance. They looked like beefed up chimpanzees or slim gorillas. They seemed to be somewhere between seventeen and eighteen years old if judged by human standards, but I really couldn't be sure why I thought so.They set up their picnic and had a romantic lunch, ignoring me the entire time. It was nice to see, but I felt like I was intruding. After a while, I turned and looked at the vegetation or the city in the distance.Up in the sky, although it was broad daylight, I could see one of the sister planets to the one I was on. Five planets shared the same orbit in this system. They held each other together and yet stable in a complicated gravitational formation called a rosette.Flying machines came and went from the tower. I knew that it was just one of several on the planet, and each of the five earth-like world had many such cities of their own. All full of the happy, simian people.I had seen the wreckage of them.--When I woke up, my eyes felt like they had sand in them. I blinked several times. My head felt like it was stuffed full of cotton. I laid in my bunk and tried to sort out what I was feeling. I wasn't sleepy, but I was tired. It was hard to concentrate.Eventually I remembered my own standing orders about the dreams. I rolled over and dictated a report describing the dream. Out of idle curiosity, I accessed and read a couple of other reports about the dreams.They all seemed to be prosaic scenes of life on the Rosette --The Rosette had been the home of an advanced civilization, a million years ago. They had never developed faster-than-light travel. They didn't need to. They had new worlds to settle right in their own backyards.In time the Rosette civilization had come to fill the five worlds of the Rosette. They had wars over territory and resources. They did terrible damage to their planets by using them carelessly. Then they worked out a better way to run the situation. The Rosette People spent the next couple of hundred years restoring their five planets, and learning to live in harmony with them.The big city that I had seen was an arcology, a self contained system. It was essentially a space station built on the ground. All the same technology used to recycle air, food and wastes from a space station were adapted to minimize the impact of the city on its planet. Best of all, if the recycling systems got a little behind with the atmosphere, getting fresh air was as simple as opening the windows. Arcologies were excellent solutions to walking lightly upon the Earth, or any inhabited planet. They had two drawbacks. They were very expensive, and they required a fairly strict set of behaviors on the part of their inhabitants to function adequately.Ion-impeller drives were used to make flying vehicles stay up with a minimum of fuss in the air, The people tapped the cores of their planets to get clean, relatively benign energy. The beacons they implanted in the crusts of their planets to guide flying machines and spaceship were what had drawn the Harrier to the system to begin with. They were still functioning after a million years.Eventually the people realized that five earth-like planets in a rosette formation was a highly improbable occurrence. They came to realize that their worlds had been moved into position and then terraformed by an unknown hand.While the people were trying to puzzle this basic question out, the star that had warmed and nourished the five planets of the Rosette died of old age.Suddenly it began to bloat into a red giant in its death throes. It would bake the Rosette worlds thoroughly. The people knew that within a few years their worlds were doomed.They sadly built giant life boats to carry some of their people away. They hoped to find other inhabitable worlds. The ones who remained tried to make certain that their civilization would be remembered, when the ruins were discovered.--We followed the radio signals into the system. The signals themselves were simple navigational markers. From coded identification and time markers in the signals, we estimated that less than one in five was still working.The system orbited a white dwarf star. The dead corpse of its sun.  
We orbited first one and then another dead cinder. The ruins on the surface told us a little about the Rosette People. The ruins had been baked by low powered plasma for a hundred years. The whole crust of the planet was a broken sheet of thick glass.We eventually hit the jack pot in the crypt. The crypt of the Rosette People was an amazing substance. It was nearly indestructible. The metal was similar to that used by a race called the Kalandans, a thousand years ago. The plasma could not hurt it. Our main phaser banks couldn't have penetrated the crypt. However, a simple mathematical puzzle opened it right up. Inside we found complete computer records of everything the Rosette People thought was fit to be saved.We spent a week there, taking copies of the complete archives and records of the Rosette Civilization.Bill the Probe flew around the system, with an extra fuel tank strapped on. He found wreckage in orbit around the star, and even the baked remains of a spaceship, but nothing living.We even took complete scans of every artifact in the crypt. The Rosette People tried to leave examples of what they considered important art and one of each type of object that they could jam into the crypt. We left the artifacts themselves, there. There was no telling who might be along later. If the space arks of the Rosette People had survived, and then their descendants deserved to find the crypts as well preserved as we could manage.We also left information about the UFP, and the logs of the USS Harrier in the crypt, along with readers for our data. If we didn't make it back to the Federation, then someday a Federation starship might be out this way. I hoped that they would find our records alongside those of the Rosette People.After learning everything that we could about the Rosette People and their records, we closed up the crypts, and resumed our course towards Starbase Twenty-Four.A couple of days outside the system, the dreams started.They only affected a few people at first. They reported extremely detailed and clear dreams depicting life on the Rosette worlds. They also began to grow sleepy and impaired. As the next day passed, more and more people in the crew became affected.--I gathered my head together, and wandered off to find Doctor Flynn, my Chief Medical Officer. Once I was in the sickbay, she sat me down on the diagnostic bed, and ran a full set of scans on me.As this was going on, I noticed that she was acting like a zombie, herself. Her eyes were red, and she moved slowly as if distracted. "You, too, huh?"She looked at me. "Me too, what?" Then she got it "Oh, yeah. More than half the crew has been affected in the last twenty four hours.""Do you have any ideas about what it is?" I asked. She had told me once already, but I couldn't remember exactly what she had said."I know exactly what it is. It's a sort of outside interference with the sleep cycle. It prevents REM sleep from having the proper effects. This leads to an imbalance of neuro-transmitters. The same sort of thing can happen inside a Tyken's Rift. What I don't know is what the cause is or how to stop it."I remembered that time. "Thank you.""I can offer a temporary solution. I can alter the neuro-transmitter levels in your brain with drugs. You'd feel fully awake, for a while." She brandished a hypospray."What's the catch?" I asked. With drugs there always is one."It won't be effective after about twelve hours. The brain will develop a tolerance.""No, thank you." I didn't feel bad, just sleepy. I didn't want to rely on the drugs if I could help it. I had been treated for alcoholism when I was young. It wasn't like the old days when the biochemical imbalances were permanent. Then treatment meant just being locked up until you were dry, and then practicing an arcane religion with a support group.In the twenty-fourth century the biochemistry could easily be rebalanced. Then you attended some counseling. I never had the chance to develop the disease actively, before I was cured. Nevertheless, I had been aware of my weakness ever since. I tried to stay away from drugs or alcohol as a regular thing. I also tried to deal with my discomforts inside before I let them be medicated."Captain to the Bridge! Captain Hailey to the Bridge!" The intercom announced. The Harrier went to yellow alert."You know, now that I think of it, that shot might not be a bad idea." I said.She responded "Now that you mention it, I think I'll have one, too."Dr. Flynn administered the hypospray and I ran out of Sickbay, heading for the Bridge.On the way, my eyeballs began to itch. My teeth began to burn a little, as though I had just eaten some spicy food. My head cleared right up. As I got to the Bridge, I realized in just what bad shape we were in."Report." I ordered as I crossed the Bridge to my seat. The senior officer present was Harksain Varupuchu. He had not yet been affected by the dreams."A Kliges'chee ship is pursuing us. It is a battle cruiser.""Red alert."Stephanie Anderson, my Chief of Security sleepily keyed the button, and the alert klaxon sounded. I could see her struggling to clear her head, and failing.We were exploring the frontier for the Zantree Alliance. The Zantree Alliance had traded a full refit of the Harrier in exchange for our exploration of the frontier area. We were reporting directly back to the Zantree Alliance member Poong's World. We were the only starship that the Zantree Alliance could afford to send out here, and that was because we were going here, anyway.The Zantree Alliance was so hard pressed by the Kliges'chee that one ship here or there might make the whole difference in their war.I had a bad feeling. The Kliges'chee were supposed to be behind us, fighting the Zantree Alliance. If there was a battle cruiser here, then there were three possible reasons why it might be here. First, it might be lost from the main body of the Kliges'chee fleet and unsure of where it was. This was the best case scenario for both the Zantree and us. Secondly, it might be a scout trying to circle around the Zantree Alliance, searching for a way to strike them on an undefended side. This was bad for the Zantree and uncomfortable for us. For the Zantree it meant that the Kliges'chee were able to spare ships for this kind of speculative scouting missions when the Zantree could not. This meant that the Kliges'chee had more available ships. This was a bad sign for the Zantree Alliance. For us it could get uncomfortable. It was only three months to the Klingon border from here. If the Kliges'chee pursued us, then I had no real alternative but to run for the Klingon border. I could lead a Kliges'chee fleet into the Klingon Empire. The Klingons might or might not view this as treachery, with predictable results for us. Worse, it would spell the beginning of the end of the Zantree.The third, and most awful alternative was that we had stumbled into the lead elements of a Kliges'chee fleet that had already come around behind the Zantree. This would mean hot death for the Zantree Alliance and the USS Harrier."Range to the Kliges'chee?" I asked Varupuchu."He will be inside weapons range in approximately eight minutes." The Andorian reported.Li'ira stumbled onto the bridge. I could see that she was also suffering from the effects of the dreams. She sat down heavily and tried blearily to catch up with what was going on."Mr. Spaat, what is your condition?" I had to make sure of who was with me."I am impaired, Captain." Spaat said, mildly.I looked at him. He seemed as bright eyed and bushy tailed as any Vulcan ever got. "Really?""Unless something is done, my efficiency will begin to suffer within the week.""Oh. We'll see if we can avoid that.""Thank you, Captain.""Can we out run the Kliges'chee?""That depends on how long you wish to flee from the Kliges'chee ship, sir.""Oh, just until we lose it.""That would appear to be impractical, Captain. His acceleration and maneuverability are similar to ours. He could follow us no matter what we did. Unless random circumstances operated in our favor, he could call for reinforcements, and simply wait for us to suffer a breakdown."I thought it over. "Oh, well, running wasn't really what I had in mind, anyway."Varupuchu looked at me. "Really, Captain?" His voice seemed disapproving. Knowing Varupuchu as I now did, I knew that it was. He viewed risk to the USS Harrier very dimly, indeed."If the Kliges'chee realize that the whole rear area of the Zantree Alliance is undefended, then they will be quick to take advantage of it. I'm going to try to make him think that there is a definite Zantree presence here.""Uh-huh." Varupuchu's shrug was as noncommittal as any Frenchman could manage.I turned to Stephanie. "Send a message to the other ships in our squadron. Use tactical channel eight, but use light coding.""Captain?" Stephanie hadn't been able to keep up the conversation, and was now lost. "What ships?""Can you jam their sensors?" I asked her. There was no time for her to catch up."Aye, sir." She set to work.On the Bridge Engineering Station I saw that the Harrier was at ninety percent of main power. We were covering the rest with the auxiliary impulse reactors."Bridge to Engineering. Why isn't the warp core up to one hundred percent?""Engineering to Bridge, Dubonich, here, Captain. Chief Engineer Vengla had the reactor rigged with an odd set of protocols, I don't understand 'em completely, and I'm reluctant to change them in an emergency, Sir.""Where is Lt. Vengla?""Sickbay, sir. She was badly affected by those dreams."I thought about it. Ruezre' Vengla had a special, intimate relationship with the engines of the Harrier. It would take more time than we had to puzzle out what her set up was. To change it to the standard setup would require a total reboot of the engineering section at this point. We couldn't afford to shut down the warp core with a Kliges'chee battle cruiser bearing down on us, and so I let it go. "Do the best you can, Chief. Bridge out.""Engineering out.""Time to intercept?" I asked."Five minutes, thirty seconds." Spaat reported."Effect of jamming?"Varupuchu reported. "Ineffective, Captain." He shot a meaningful glance at Stephanie. I could see that she was suffering badly from the strange sleepy effects of the dreams, and was trying not to show it."Can you cover Tactical?" I asked the Andorian.He looked thoughtful. "I can try."Stephanie looked at me, hurt. I said "Get down to sickbay and get the neurological treatment from Doctor Flynn. Hurry!"Stephanie nodded slowly. I could see her hurt feelings abate as she understood. It was a slow process for Stephanie, today.Varupuchu moved to the tactical station, and started to work the sensor jamming.Li'ira, still reeling, took the operations station.Then I waited for two hours. It was difficult. I kept wanting to fiddle with things. I wanted to make sure that everything was going well with my own two hands. I couldn't. I had to let what was left of my crew handle it. Up until then I didn't really know how seriously I depended on the crew of the Harrier. I was a nervous wreck thinking that someone was sleepily setting us up to get destroyed by the Kliges'chee.It seemed like two hours. In reality it was about two minutes."How are we doing with the jamming?" I asked Varupuchu."Somewhat better, Captain. Shall I send the message to the rest of our squadron?" His voice was droll."Please do."Harksain reported the contact with the Kliges'chee to our non-existent patrol squadron.Soon we were within hailing range of the Kliges'chee. "Take us to one half impulse speed." I ordered Spaat. It was an invitation to the Kliges'chee for a fight. Phasers don't work at warp speed usually. Most starship combat is designed around a sublight encounter. The Harrier and the Kliges'chee battle cruiser were no exception. Federation starships had photon torpedoes for attacking at warp speeds, but even so, they were not too reliable. Starships could be billions of miles closer or farther away in the blink of an eye, at warp speed. It made warp speed battles difficult. It was usually too difficult except for computers.The good thing, or the bad thing depending on how you want to look at it, was that a mildly powerful tractor beam could ruin the alignment of a warp drive. At least long enough to make it go sub light. A stubborn starship captain could force another one into a battle. It was better to either go to impulse and fight, or to change course and flee.By going sublight and hailing the Kliges'chee ship, we were saying "Talk to us or get ready to fight.""Hail the Kliges'chee.""Aye, sir. Hailing."The Kliges'chee ship slowed to sublight speed and began to arm its weapons. Quickly the hideous form of a Kliges'chee was oozing across the main view screen."I am Captain Jay P. Hailey of the Zantree patrol ship Harrier. You are in Zantree Space. Prepare to stand down and be escorted out, peacefully."The Kliges'chee snarled. "All space belongs to Kliges'chee! You are food! You may call to your gods, now." It cut the channel."Arm all weapons." I said. "Have the shield protector on stand by.""Yes, Captain."I could see the status lights turn red as the phasers and photon torpedoes of the Harrier were fed energy."The Kliges'chee ship is approaching at full impulse, his weapons are armed." Li'ira said."Go to full impulse. Prepare to run attack pattern Delta." Spaat and Varupuchu set up the attack run on the computers with admirable speed."At the point where we hook around, I want you to fire the shield disruptor at him." I said."Yes, Captain." Varupuchu noted my command. Sometime in the past the Kliges'chee had developed a secret weapon that, when fired at an opposing starship destroyed its force fields. The shield disruptor could destroy the defenses of an enemy starship. Once you stripped a starship of its force field defenses it was nearly helpless, an easy target for a warship.The Zantree Alliance and their newest members, the Free Kliges'chee had developed a related device, the shield protector. It simply neutralized the effects of a shield disruptor. The catch was that your shields were a little weaker when it was turned on.The Zantree Alliance had thoughtfully equipped the Harrier with these devices when they had given her a refit.Attack pattern Delta is an old one, but still useful. It was designed by the Klingons about ninety years ago. In it the starship crosses in front of her opponent at an oblique angle, executing a slashing attack. At the last moment, the starship turns and presses the attack, usually curving in behind her opponent.It is used in a combat where you think the enemies' resolve might be broken, when the attack that should be ending instead grows worse. It is also a classical set up for a dirty trick.I didn't know if the Zantree shield disruptor would work on the Kliges'chee ship, but it was the only ace up our sleeve. I was still too new at starship combat. I wanted to use every advantage and piece of leverage I could get.The Kliges'chee swept straight in at us. He fired his main cannon at us, scoring a hit. It is easy to speak of it in terms of a game or a sport. The Harrier had been my home for more than three years. I knew her inside and out, intimately. She was all that was keeping me alive. She shuddered with a sickening motion."Forward shields down by twenty percent, Captain. There is light damage to sections eight, nine and ten." Varupuchu reported."Fire at will, Mr. Varupuchu." I said. I knew that he knew that basic plan for attack pattern Delta. I had to hope that he would execute it correctly. Even if he was rough or clumsy with it, I couldn't do any better by remote control."Aye, Sir." Varupuchu responded. He worked the controls with his usual precision. The Harrier spat four photon torpedoes. Varupuchu had aimed them with great skill. One, two, three, four, they plowed into the Kliges'chee ship and detonated, wreaking havoc. It was interesting to watch. Part of me cringed to see the damage to the Kliges'chee ship. I knew as well as anyone might, what was being destroyed, and how they might suffer for it later. Part of me wanted to howl. My enemies were being destroyed. As we slid across the nose of the Kliges'chee he got one more chance to fire at us, before we slid into our "hook" maneuver.The Kliges'chee's cannon lashed out. It was not quite as strong as it was before, but we were much closer. The Harrier rocked, and then shuddered with the force of the blow."Port side shield down by thirty percent. Warp drive is out, and we are leaking plasma." Varupuchu might have been discussing the weather."Steady on." I said. It was the order to keep going with the game plan. I don't think my voice shook too much."Coming about." Spaat reported. The Harrier rolled over and launched into a big turn. Even through the inertial dampers I could feel my stomach settle down and to the side. We were turning tightly to come back around at the Kliges'chee battle cruiser. He wasn't where he was supposed to be. I had a bad moment as I realized that we had wheeled around through the position where we should have been able to see him. Varupuchu armed the shield disruptor. The lights on the Harrier's bridge dimmed as the power system added one more weapon than they were designed for into the load. A strange whirring noise filled the bridge.The Harrier kept turning, and suddenly, there was the Kliges'chee. He had turned into us as we began our maneuver. He would have been turning as tightly as we were except for the damage done by Varupuchu's deadly photon torpedo barrage.A strange euphoria enveloped me. I knew we had him. Even if the shield disruptor didn't work, we were out of the arc of his main weapon, while he was well within ours. I could see the repeater screen next to my chair, the readings of our sensors, concerning his condition. The Kliges'chee's shields were at fifty percent, all over. He was leaking methane, and some compartments were on fire from the methane still inside them. His power was low.Varupuchu fired the shield disruptor. From the nose of the Harrier, a blue coruscating ball of energy detached and floated over to the Kliges'chee battle cruiser. It was almost leisurely. Then it hit. The Kliges'chee ship rocked and suddenly stopped turning. At the same instant, on either side of the main-forward hull, two massive explosions happened. The Kliges'chee lost all power to his shields. His ship was defenseless.The next step bothered me, but I had to do it. If the Kliges'chee was able to report what he had found, or if he discovered that the Harrier was alone on the Zantree Frontier, then it would be an invitation to a Kliges'chee battle fleet.It still felt like murder when I said "Continue firing. Destroy the Kliges'chee ship."With quiet, economic strokes, Varupuchu keyed in the firing program. The Harrier's phasers chewed into the Kliges'chee's hull, until they found the antimatter containment unit. Once that was hit, the Kliges'chee battle cruiser detonated like a small star.The damage to the Harrier was surprisingly light, all things considered. We had a couple of bad burns from the plasma leaks, but no deaths. Within a few hours we had the warp drives back and again we set course for Starbase Twenty-Four.--The briefing room was quiet and disorganized. Most of us had the stares. Another night had brought another dream of life in the Rosette Culture. I had been an asteroid miner, pushing a little ship with a collection of big tools. It didn't move very fast, but that left me a lot of time to listen to the music of the Rosette . It was interesting while it lasted, but I was paying for it today."Okay, what do we know? These dreams seem to be scenes of life in the Rosette Culture right? How do we confirm that?"Bill the Probe spoke up. He was there along with Varupuchu, Spaat and a number of alien crewmen who seemed immune to the effects of the dreams. "I could compare the accounts of the dreams, with the records we got from the Rosette crypt." He sounded perky and helpful. I wanted to kill him."Sounds good, Bill.""I'll need access to the records and the accounts of the dreams." He said."Please make that available to Bill, Mr. Varupuchu." I said. I wandered off. I couldn't concentrate. I spent the rest of the afternoon staring at a screen testing graphic. The patterns were endlessly fascinating.A hand gently touched my shoulder. "Captain?" I turned. It was Varupuchu. He was gently disapproving, mixed with a certain amount of concern."Oh, ah... Mr. Varupuchu. How are we doing?" There was something going on. With effort I could recall what it was."Bill the Probe has confirmed that you are indeed, dreaming of life in the Rosette .""Excellent." I liked the Rosette . "The mystery now is how? How is the Rosette affecting us?"Varupuchu shook his head sadly. "I do not know. We only took aboard data. There was nothing physical. We recorded no strange energies or phenomena at the Rosette .""Then it's got to be the data." I said. This was fun. Kind of like a crossword."That's not possible. The data would have to act though our machines. Our machines are not capable of such things.""Has the data changed the machines?""No. They all appear quite normal. I had Spaat disassemble three of them."I remembered something. "If you eliminate the possible. then the improbable is all that's impossible, or something.""Captain?" Varupuchu knew I was raving, but felt that he had enough time to humor me."Something I was trying to remember. Who was it? James Bond? No! Sherlock Holmes!" I had just had a brilliant idea. So help me Ghod, I thought I was being a genius. "Come on! I know who to talk to about this!" I jumped up and ran down to the Holodeck of the USS Harrier.Varupuchu dutifully followed me, although he thought that I was just going mad."Computer!" I told the Holodeck "This is the Captain!" I drew myself up to my full height. "I need to talk to Sherlock Holmes!""Your program is complete." The Holodeck responded.Varupuchu and I went through the door.--"Fascinating! Do you mean to imply, Captain, that dreams may be imposed on the human mind from the outside?" Holmes' eyes glittered with enthusiasm."Really, Holmes!" Watson said with disdain. "Such a load of hogwash!""My good friend, once again, you see, but do not observe. A cursory examination of the good Captain will reveal that he is suffering from symptoms that resemble a lack of sleep.""You mean that he's drunk! I'm way ahead of you on this one, Holmes.""Tell me of the events in the Rosette again, and leave no detail out, no matter how small or insignificant they may appear."With prompting from Varupuchu, I was able to make my way through our cut down story again. I had elected to frame the story as though we were an ocean going ship investigating a ring of islands upon which were the remains of a lost culture. Somewhere in the back of my mind, the Prime Directive applied even to imaginary primitives.Holding up his hand in a refined gesture, Sherlock Holmes stopped me and got my attention. "You say that you and your doughty crew took from the islands only written records, intending that the survivors of the Rosette Culture should have the advantage of their native artifacts if they should return, am I correct, Captain?""That's correct.""Incredible." Scoffed Dr. Watson."And you say that the ruins of the Rosette contain many wonders, possibly even including a dream projecting machine.""Balderdash!" Watson could hardly contain his derision."And yet, you say that this is not relevant since you did not bring any of these devices back aboard your ship, the Harrier.""That's correct, sir.""The answer is simplicity itself! It is hardly worth bothering me over.""Yes, they are charlatans wasting your time!" Watson's hostility was getting old.Shushing Dr. Watson with a gesture, Holmes said "If you think about it for a moment the answer may come to you. Do not ask my advice lightly gentlemen for the price I charge will be steep.""What's that?" I asked."If this device exists, I must see it and examine it.""Surely, Holmes, You don't believe..." Watson was halted by Holmes again."Done!" I said."I think I get what you're driving at..." Varupuchu said."Too late! The Captain has agreed!" Holmes spoke sharply. "The answer is simply this. If such a device exists, and you have all the records of the Rosette Culture available, then the device should be mentioned in those records. Look it up, and keep careful note of the description. That will guide you in the search of the belongings of your souvenir hunting crewmen, Sir!"I was stunned, but it all fit. I had never considered that one of my crew would smuggle an alien artifact onto the ship. "Yes, I see. Thank you, Mr. Holmes." Varupuchu turned around, called for the arch and prepared to leave."Thank you, Mr. Holmes." I said. My breath was taken away by the speed at which Holmes had cut to the heart of our problem."I look forwards to your return, Captain Hailey." Sherlock said. His tone implied that he looked forward to meeting the Rosette artifacts much more than myself. "Speaking only for myself, I do not, sir." Watson was gesturing towards the arch, stiffly."Dr. Watson." I nodded as I exited."Good day, Sir." Watson said with the angry politeness that only the English can do right.As I left I heard the exchange continue. "Again, Watson, you see, but you not observe.""Really, Holmes, I think...""Why was the Captain's companion blue?""Was he!?"I caught up with Varupuchu halfway down the hall. "Isn't he great?""He is a Human who acts like a Vulcan." Varupuchu said "But he was quite correct."Bill the Probe contacted us. "Sirs! Sirs! I have discovered a relevant fact!" He sounded ecstatic."Explain, please Bill." Varupuchu said. I could see him repressing a smile at Bill's attitude."I checked the records of the Rosette Culture. They did, in fact, have a dream projector that operates much the way described in the dream accounts!" Activating a console in the wall next to us, Bill called up a schematic from the Rosette records. "See? It looks just like that!"It looked like a small computer device which had a huge gem mounted half in and half out of it's casing. It was about four inches long. The caption, suitably translated said "Dream Projector. Basic Educational Device.""I haven't found any records of it having an adverse affect on the Rosette People, Sirs, but their physiology was different.""Excellent work, Bill!" I said. I was impressed. He had performed competitively with the great Sherlock Holmes.--Once we knew what we were talking about, finding the device was easy. Just as Sherlock had surmised, a crewman working on the records transfer had come up with the dumb idea that one little artifact wouldn't hurt.Once it was turned off, everyone who had been affected quickly went to sleep and slept for a long time. When I awoke I felt more like myself.I was a little rough on Martin Pilat, the guy who had smuggled the device aboard the Harrier. I demoted him one rank, fined him three months pay, and confined him to quarters for a month. It was a very basic lesson in safety on starships. I made certain that everyone heard of it, and knew what had happened. Pilat's action had almost cost us the ship and our lives. Worst, it had taken so long to make the connection because he hadn't been having any of the dreams. He never made the connection between his souvenir and the disaster happening to the ship. He wasn't too popular for a while after that.--

Our report back to the Zantree Alliance was scarcely more popular. The Zantree needed to know that the Kliges'chee were scouting around their undefended frontier, even if they didn't enjoy the prospect.We also showed records of our combat against the Kliges'chee battle cruiser to the Zantree. The combined performance of the photon torpedo and the shield disruptor were considered a good sign. It seemed as though deflectors and shields weakened by weapons fire were more vulnerable to the shield disruptor than if just attacked by the shield disruptor alone.I hoped that the Zantree Alliance could get the photon torpedo into mass production soon enough to make a difference.--I steeled my nerves and knocked on the door of Holmes' apartment at 221 b Baker Street. Dr. Watson answered it. "You again! I thought that searching your crew and confiscating all their rum would keep you away for a little while longer yet, Captain.""Who's that?" Holmes demanded sharply.I held up the dream projector. "Mr. Holmes said that he wanted to see this."After a couple of weeks we were able to identify the odd channel that the projector transmitted on. We were never able to determine how it knew to program content or how it was able to interface with our dreams. The one I was showing to Watson was holodeck simulation. That way Holmes could destroy his sleeping patterns, and those of his unfortunate neighbors, without endangering the Harrier."By Jove!" Watson was stunned."Is this the device?" Holmes reached out past Watson and grabbed the dream projector."It's yours, Sir. Please be careful with it."Holmes simply turned away, examining the device with childlike joy."Th-Thank you." Watson said, weakly.-end-Disclaimer: Paramount owns all things Trek. I claim original characters and situations in this story for me.


	17. Chapter 17

REP: Star Trek: Outwardly Mobile (OCC - TNG era) 16 - The Cube, PG 1/1

Title: Star Trek: Outwardly Mobile (title)

Author: Jay P Hailey ST-OM, OCC - TNG era 16/54?

Rating:PG

Archive: Fine with me, just tell me where.

Disclaimer: Paramount owns all things Star Trek. I claim Original Characters and Situations for me.

Webpage HTTP://jayphailey. Trek: Outwardly Mobile

Episode 16: The Cube

(Stardate 46830)

By

Jay P. Hailey

And

Dennnis Washburn

The computer drew an imaginary line in space ahead of us. It was the limit of the Zantree Exploration Zone. We had been given a refit in exchange for exploring the area. The Zantree Alliance had hoped that we would find something that would make a critical difference in their war against the Kliges'chee. They were so hard pressed that they could not afford a single starship from their defense efforts to explore the frontier.

I sympathized with the Zantree desire. The Kliges'chee were a cannibal race that seemed to number into the trillions. We hadn't found anything conclusive. We discovered that the core of the Zantree Exploration Zone was a taboo area, declared off limits because of the danger of ancient Rishan ruins and artifacts. However, we didn't find any terror weapons to use against the Kliges'chee there.

Outside of the taboo zone we hadn't found a whole lot of anything. There were class M planets, but primitive people mostly inhabited them. There were natural resources, but they would all require refinement and processing before they became good war material.

Now we bid our final good-byes to the Zantree Alliance and prepared to enter unclaimed, unknown space. We were only three months away from the far side of the Klingon Empire. Once there, getting home was going to be much easier. I didn't want to take it for granted, though.

In any case we would know, shortly. With good wishes to the Zantree we left the Zantree Exploration Zone. We were back into unknown space and back on our own. It had felt odd casting our lot in with the Zantree Alliance. It had felt disloyal, somehow, to the Federation. We had really needed the refit, and it felt good having a planet behind you that was sincerely on your side. I was glad, in a certain way, to leave it behind. Now we could concentrate on our primary mission, which was to return to the Federation and report on all we had seen.

--

A couple of days later I was in my quarters reading, when the yellow alert went off. My intercom said "Captain to the Bridge!"

I hit my acknowledge button and ran up to the bridge. I had been exercising, trying to loose the "spaceman's gut" I was developing. All I was doing was firming up the muscles underneath the fat. I felt better for it, though, and resolved to continue.

When I got to the bridge, I was not breathless, but I could sense the tension there. Everyone was frightened.

"Report." I said.

Li'ira reported. I could see the muscles tense under her face. "We have made sensor contact with a Borg ship."

"What!? Red Alert! Are you certain?" I said. I hoped that it was an accident. Some training program accidentally put on the main screen or something. I sat down and ran a sensor diagnostic from my station.

"The readings are confirmed, Captain." Harksain Varupuchu said quietly.

"Oh, Ghod." I knew what that meant. The Borg were a hundred years ahead of us in technological development. This is a deceptive measure. After, which century are we discussing? The years from 1100 to 1199 on Earth didn't see a lot of development, while the spastic period between 1900 and 1999 saw entirely too much "progress." In our case, we meant our own century, roughly 2300 to 2370. The changes here were about as much as fifteen to twenty years in the 1900's. The challenge for us was not to make new machines, but to use the ones we had more wisely. The Borg were way ahead of us, there. A lot of their systems were understandable to us, taken one at a time. The mix and interactions between the Borg machines were what had stumped us. They had jammed our sensors with ease, and their shields had been tuned to easily defeat all of our weapons. Their computers were faster than ours. They could adjust their systems to changes more quickly than we could. The decentralized design of the Borg Cube ship meant that they could absorb much more damage on a relative scale. On an absolute scale, the Harrier was doomed.

Their sensor range was longer than ours. If we were seeing them, then it was a safe bet that they had already seen us.

"Range to the Borg ship?"

"Approximately two light weeks, sir." This was a little less than an hour away at warp six. It was about fifteen minutes away at warp nine.

"Time to intercept?"

"He is not on an intercept course, Captain."

"What's his course?" Were we just unbelievably lucky? Had he failed to notice us? Were we too unimportant to deal with?

Tillean checked her console. "It's hard to tell. If he's moving, it's so slowly that we can't detect the changes at this range."

That left me with a quandary. What was he doing? Finding out the answer to this could get us all killed, or worse, assimilated.

To run now, might simply get us run down and assimilated later by the Borg.

"All stop!" I said. The distortion our warp drives left in space made us much easier to track. The Borg scared me. A lot. However, I didn't just want to turn my back and run. The Borg can maintain a higher warp speed than a Federation starship. I wanted to hide, instead.

We used low powered tight beam scans to explore our surroundings. I hoped that the Borg could not see any scattered or reflected energy from our scans. We saw a cold, dark gas giant orbiting a nearby star. It was closer to the Borg, but we could try to stay in its shadow until we got close enough to get under cover in it.

We crept in as quietly as possible. It wasn't possible to be that quiet, but we did the best we could. In space, you can often exchange time for energy. We did so ruthlessly, crawling along at warp one. It would take years to get from one planet to another at that slow speed, but it made for a much smaller warp signature.

--

After a week of creeping, the Borg ship hadn't done anything. Tillean wanted to launch a probe, but I wanted to wait until we were under some sort of cover first. Bill the Probe volunteered to go, but I didn't want him assimilated, any more than I wanted anyone else in my crew assimilated.

Tillean was stubborn. Since she couldn't launch a probe, she stuck to her passive sensors. Sensor come in two types. Active sensors send out energy and then read the reflections. Radar and most subspace sensors are active mode. Passive sensors read energy that is already there, falling on them. The humanoid eye and a radio telescope are passive mode sensors. Tillean used the passive mode sensors on the Harrier because they didn't give the Borg anything to lock onto. At the end of the week's creep, she came to me with an odd conclusion.

A big mystery to us was exactly what the Borg cube ship was doing. It seemed to simply hang in space. It wasn't near anything.

"Captain. The Borg ship seems to be adrift." She said.

"How do you figure that, Lieutenant?"

"Here is its current position, here is its position as of our first sighting. As you can see, It has drifted about 200 kilometers. According to these readings, It would seem to be rotating."

"Can you confirm these conclusions. Lieutenant?"

"Not really, Captain. There is simply too much that we don't know about how the Borg think."

I was faced with a tough decision. I had to know more about what the Borg were thinking. I was too scared to investigate, and I was too scared to simply turn tail and run. I gave permission to Tillean to use her probes.

--

The Borg Cube ship was a wreck. It was radiating minimal power. It showed extensive internal damage. Less than fifteen percent of its systems were operational. We detected six life forms aboard it.

--

I ordered the Harrier to close in. I was brave when I discovered how badly mangled the Borg ship was. There was an even more troubling question. What could to that to a Borg? We needed to know that. Anything that could do that to a Borg ship was either an ally well worth cultivating, or a powerful threat. Now I needed to know which it was.

While Li'ira led the first away team onto the Borg ship, we beamed the survivors onboard the Harrier. We made our best security arrangements, but they weren't needed. Four of the six were catatonic. They simply stood and stared. Three of them were Romulans. One was a Betazoid. One was a human. One was of a race that we hadn't seen before.

The Betazoid just babbled. She didn't babble anything coherent. Left to herself, she would simply drift into a corner and crouch down.

We identified her as Kamily Wandros, a crewman of the Tarod IX outpost. Whatever had happened to her had just been too much. We couldn't reach her.

The Human was still cognitive, but he wasn't sane. He was speaking Romulan. When the translator was able to catch up, it seemed that the man thought that he was six years old. He described a fairly normal home life with two people he called "Mommy" and "Daddy", except in Romulan. He knew that some people had pointed ears and that other people didn't. He used the word "Romulans" for both. He was very clear that "Mommy and "Daddy" didn't have pointed ears and were happy Romulans. The next thing he knew, He was in the Borg ship. Bad men tried to hurt him, but he ran away and hid.

Seamus McTague and Dr. Flynn agreed that it was a case of hysterical amnesia. Records from the Borg attack on Earth and the rescue of Jean Luc Picard seemed to indicate that someone who was assimilated remained conscious the whole time, unable to fight the will of the Borg. McTague and Flynn guessed that all the Borg we had recovered had been assimilated from other walks of life. The experience had been dealt with in a variety of ways.

The away team reported that the interior of the Borg ship was littered with the bodies of dead Borg crewmen. The interior also showed great evidence of internal blasting and physical damage.

The Romulans, the Betazoid and the Human were De-Borged. Dr. Flynn was able to follow instructions in our records left by Dr. Crusher to remove the invasive Borg cybernetics. This did not help the Romulans to regain any cognition. The Betazoid woman became catatonic at that point. The Human remained regressed to childhood.

Dr. Flynn didn't want to attempt to De-Borg the alien. "I don't know enough about his physiology."

"Doctor. I'm afraid I must insist."

"It's too dangerous."

"It's too dangerous to leave him in this state aboard the Harrier." I explained.

"I might kill him." She insisted.

"Can you give me any guarantees that he won't use these Borg systems to sabotage my ship? Look at these interfaces. If he gained access to our computers with them, he might be able to access critical systems before we could stop him. That would be the end for us."

"That's a problem for Security. My department is the health of the crew of the Harrier."

"Consider it preventive medicine." I said.

"No." She was adamant.

"Doctor, you misunderstand me. I am not requesting. I am ordering."

"I refuse."

"Then I'll have to abandon him."

"With the Borg ship in that condition could he get it to safety?" She asked.

"I'm not going to let him have the ship back." My voice was cold and angry.

"What are you going to do, stuff him in a life pod and eject him?"

"Yes."

"I don't believe you'd put a comatose man in a life pod and eject him in deep space."

"He's a BORG!" I realized I was shouting.

Flynn looked at me, closely. "You would do that, wouldn't you?"

I had to turn away to regain my composure. "He's a Borg. He's a threat to all of us."

"I want that order in writing, Captain."

"Okay."

I wrote the order and Dr. Flynn performed the operation. The Alien/Borg died. At least he wasn't a Borg anymore when he died. I kept telling myself that.

--

We put the survivors into hibernation. We weren't equipped to deal with them. I hoped that when we reached the Federation, that we would be able to turn them over to a more competent medical facility.

--

One of the first things that we were able to identify about the Borg ship was where it had come from. We found the bodies of dead Humans, Romulans and other races in the wreckage. Eight years ago a mysterious intruder had traveled down the Romulan Neutral Zone. Whole outposts disappeared as if scooped out of the planetary surfaces into which they were built. No one knew what had caused the destruction in 2364, but the traces were later found identical to the Borg.

This particular cube ship must have been the one. We also identified standard Federation and Romulan building materials used in its construction.

--

We tore into the Borg cube ship. The technology secrets contained in it could make the Federation immune from attack, by the Borg, or anyone. I was grimly happy. We still didn't know what had caused the destruction of the Borg ship, but the Federation was going to be the beneficiary.

Further investigation revealed that it had been exclusively Borg hand weapons used in the destruction of the ship. A lot of the damage must have been caused by beings with superior physical strength. This was the kind of strength given by the Borg cybernetics.

Had something made the Borg go insane? Had an enemy which so closely resembled the Borg that we could not see the difference attacked them? Could it have been an attack by another Borg vessel? We couldn't find any answers right away.

--

"How are you coming with that circuitry nexus, Tillean?" I asked. It had been a while since I had ventured into the physics labs of the Harrier. It had been since we had found the stable einsteinium.

Tillean looked up at me and refocused her eyes. She breathed a heavy sigh. "Well, I know what it's made of." It had become a running joke. The material that the Borg had assimilated into their structure had been changed precisely enough to be used in their machines and no more. This left macabre reminders of where it had come from. We had found several structural members from the outpost at Tarod IX stretched like taffy and welded into the Borg ship. The serial numbers were still on them, stretched and misshapen.

The chemical composition of the Borg ship was easily determined. How the Borg used the elements and materials they had stolen was the mystery.

I nodded at Tillean's joke "Heh, heh. Please keep working on it."

Tillean rubbed her eyes and leaned back into the micro-scanner, trying to trace a web of molecule sized circuits.

--

"Ensign Bruce, How are we doing with the programming in that interface?" I asked.

Bruce was a sight. Big screens surrounded him, constantly flipping through pages of information. My computer programming expert was nested into a large chair. Food and drink surrounded him, and he hadn't picked any of it up in a while. The whole of his brain power was going into puzzling out the arcane Borg programming.

In the Federation, programming resembled nothing so much as putting together blocks. Standardized blocks of code were assembled automatically to arrived at the desired effect. This was the rough draft. Then an intelligent compiler program ran the rough code through a couple of times, streamlining it.

Artists were those who could understand where to put these prefab blocks of code to maximize their effectiveness. They could do some of the streamlining themselves. These people understood the interrelations.

The Borg took this process to the next step, running like ancient multiprocessor computers. They split a problem into many separate parts and then had several small computers solve their own segments.

We had examples of the Borg style of computer code from Lt. Commander Data's records of his hacking into the Borg system.

Bruce was working as hard as any of his primitive hacker ancestors to break the code of the Borg computers. This would give us the edge we needed to understand Borg technology.

"Captain," He said, without ever looking at me. "If I didn't know better I'd say that this code has been scrambled."

"Can you confirm that?" This was bad news indeed.

"It'll take a couple days."

--

"Snoopy, any news?" I could trust Snoopy. He was a real talent at ferreting out the truth.

"Are you okay, Captain?" He asked.

"Huh? Oh, yeah, I'm fine. What have we discovered about the Borg ship?" It wasn't like Snoopy to waste time on small talk.

Snoopy thought for a moment, composing himself. "Not too much. Most of the damage that we can trace in the wreck happened about eight months and two weeks ago."

I looked at the Borg cube. "It's been adrift for eight months?"

"Uh Huh."

"I guess we were lucky to happen by when we did." I grinned.

"Yeah, if you say so."

--

"What can you tell me, Ruezre?" My Chief Engineer had a standard Federation type nine power generator in pieces on the floor of the Engineering section. It had come from the wreck. By its serial number we were able to trace it to the Federation outpost Delta Zero Five.

"The main reactor was left alone. It operated just like it should have. But the control circuitry was yanked out and Borgified." She shook her head. "I don't know how it worked or how it was kept in phase with all the other junk they had in there."

This was the chief difficulty. How did they manage to keep it all together?

"Please keep working on it. We'll get a break soon."

Ruezre looked at the mangled generator on the deck and shook her head. "I hope so."

--

We went on like that for another two weeks. Whatever the Borg was doing with the stolen technology and material, it seemed just a little bit beyond us.

We had crews on the Borg ship twenty four hours a day, trying to map out the maze of interwoven systems. They were having a limited amount of success. Each system seemed to route through several junction points. Many of the junctions were destroyed so tracing how things connected in them was difficult. Even the ones that were intact seemed to have had their software scrambled. We had no idea how the various systems interrelated. However, I refused to give up. I knew that given enough time, We could understand the Borg ship. Once we had done that, then we could design defenses against it. It was only a matter of time.

--

"Captain, may I ask a question?" Li'ira asked during one of our paperwork sessions. There were a variety of things that demanded coordination between the Captain and the First Officer. Once or twice a week we locked ourselves into my office and crashed through it. I had let it go for too long, and we had quite a back log to work though.

"Sure." I was absorbed by the fuel consumption reports.

"How long are we going to stay here and explore the Borg ship?"

I looked up. "Until we can take enough back to the Federation to allow for a good defense against the Borg."

"We're no closer to understanding their systems than we were a week ago."

"That's not true. We're making good progress."

"Okay, maybe we're making a little progress, but my question still stands. How long are we going to do this?"

"Don't you understand? This is the Borg. They destroyed forty starships. Eleven thousand well armed people. They were minutes away from destroying the Earth. Were you there?"

"No. I was off the planet at the time."

"I was there, at Starfleet Command. They couldn't tell us what it would be like. I'm an engineer by training. I was working as a desk jockey. They threw a phaser rifle into my hands and told me to go man the barricades. Nobody knew much of anything except what the Borg might look like, maybe. We had a clipping from the log of the Enterprise-D.

There was a riot out in front of Starfleet Command. Civilians were either protesting our failure or demanding to get phaser rifles of their own."

I stood up to pace. "They never really talked about what happened on Earth, did they?"

Li'ira looked at me. "I got there a few days later. I saw what it looked like."

"People just went crazy. I was trying to man my position with some people from my office, but we just stood and stared. They burned the city down. There were just people panicking and running everywhere. There was looting. Looting!"

Li'ira didn't get it. "Okay, there was panic. You survived."

"Earth was a place that we've all been working on for generations. We've turned it into a place that our ancestors would have considered paradise. There was no real crime. There was no poverty; there was very, very little suffering on Earth. It was a nice, quiet place. The Borg never even had to land to destroy it."

Li'ira shook her head. "Earth didn't have any of these things anymore because you exported them to the frontier." I opened my mouth to protest, but she cut me off. "I've been there. I've seen it. I used to live there. You sent all the malcontents, all the nonconformists away out into space. Your people worked strenuously to keep Earth safe, predictable and boring. Earth isn't like that. Your people aren't like that. Ship after ship, but you could never send your own natures out to the frontier and leave them there.

"If they had gotten us, then the whole Federation would have been next. We were all in danger. The Borg are dangerous!"

"This is all true. However, it didn't happen. We got out of it okay."

"What about the next time? That must never happen again."

"The next time the Borg attack Earth, will we still be out here wrestling with this wreck?"

"That's out of line, Commander. Let's get back to work."

She looked at me carefully. I realized that she was noting my attitude and behavior. It was a little annoying. We finished the paper work and went back to work on our main project, the Borg.

--

I decided that the next step was for all the various officers working on separate parts to pool their knowledge. Maybe Tillean had discovered something that would help Bruce, or visa versa. A break was just around the corner, I knew it.

"Okay, is everyone set?" I asked. Truth to tell, everyone looked tired. Getting a generally positive response I signaled Tillean to begin.

Tillean stood up and started her presentation. A diagram of Borg circuitry appeared behind her on the screen. It looked like a corridor. There were a series of squares that had regular interconnections. Each square was slightly smaller than the one before it, and the smaller ones were nested inside the bigger ones. The effect was like a forced perspective optical illusion. I realized that it reminded me of a corridor because it looked somewhat like the corridors in the Borg ship.

"The Borg use molecule sized circuits, in a non-prioritized network. We don't know how signals are routed through the network, except that it seems to be related to the software that controls it."

"I have managed to back trace about twenty percent of this nexus. From what I can determine. It's a kind of fractal circuitry pattern. The whole device is replicated in miniature in its parts. I have scanned down to the level of electrons and positrons in this circuit."

The scan zoomed into one corner of one square. As it got closer and closer, I could see that the circuit seemed to be constructed of smaller, interlocking squares. Each one had features in common with the larger circuit square, and even the corridors of the Borg ship.

"I can't specify if the circuit is identical all over, and adapts via software, or if the physical circuit is sometimes altered to perform a function."

"What would you need to do that, Lieutenant?" I asked.

"I need the program a scanner to trace the paths of at least this nexus. To be rigorous, I would like to scan five more nexi. The differences and similarities between them would tell me a lot."

She took a breath "I have analyzed the problem. It will take me 512 kiloquads of computer capacity for about three months. Once that's done. I can begin to puzzle out the basics."

I was stunned. 512 Kiloquads was a hefty chunk of the Harriers main computer. Tying that up for three months would cripple the Harrier.

"All right, let's table that and move on. Ensign Bruce?"

Bruce stood up and gave us his report. He didn't even bother to turn on the main view screen. "Some sort of power surge seems to have scrambled the programming in the remaining nexi. I have downloaded the mess from most of the surviving nexi. The good news is that different parts of the programming survived in different nexi. I can analyze the surviving pieces and try to assemble a recreation of the programming from one nexus. The bad news is that the time frame is similar to Tillean's. I need 640 kiloquads for three months, roughly." He sat tiredly back down.

Ruezre' Vengla, my Chief Engineer started out with her report. "The Borg ship is built along the same fractal' pattern that Tillean says the circuitry is. Every system is recreated in miniature in every part of the ship. There are certain limits to this. They do add in technology that they steal from other races. I don't know how they do this. The basic structure seems adaptable enough to handle it. The real understanding of the whole thing requires an understanding of the native Borg systems. We have spotted small power generators, small force field generators, small replicators and systems like that, spread everywhere. By networking these in unison, the Borg are able to act as a single huge ship. This is the basic unit of Borg technology. Once we can understand that, the rest might be more accessible."

"And that will take an understanding of their control circuitry and the programming, right?" I finished for her.

"Yes, Captain."

Varupuchu was next. He didn't even stand up. "We have had crews working on the wreck for two weeks now. The transporters are being over worked transporting three shifts, twice a day. We need to either set up quarters on the Borg ship, or hard dock the Harrier to it.

It was time for me to show some leadership. "Look, I know that you've all worked hard and that this is a tough project. Remember that this stuff could make the difference between life and death for the Federation. One Borg ship chewed through our defenses and easily menaced the Earth. What if they send two, next time? Let's keep our eyes on the ball, here, and try to focus on just how important this is."

Everyone gave me a tired affirmative. "I need better answers than these, people. Let's see what we can do to crunch these analysis times down, okay? Dismissed."

We went back to work.

--

Satisfied that the Borg cube ship was inactive, I ordered the Harrier hard docked to it. Then we got back on track.

I walked the decks of the Borg ship sometimes. It was disturbing. Even after clearing away the bodies and the worst of the gore, the ships seemed to hold a certain cold, mechanical menace.

My exercising finally began to pay off and I lost some weight.

--

Ruezre' Vengla had the warp core of the Harrier down for a maintenance cycle. I walked into Engineering to check on our progress. I was shocked to see that no one was working on the Borg Problem.

"Lt. Commander, report please. What's the progress on the Borg Project?"

Ruezre looked stressed as she turned to me. "I have put that on the back burner while we complete the realignment of the containment fields in the warp core, Captain."

I was a little angry. It was not as though one starship was worth the information that might be around the corner. "Well, return it to front burner status, Chief."

"We need a break, Captain. We need to deal with some technology that makes sense, for awhile."

"We can rest all we want after the problem is solved, Commander."

"What if that takes a couple of years, sir? We don't have the people or the equipment to do this right!"

"That's not good enough! The Earth needs that information, and goddamn it we're going to get it!"

"You can't change the laws of physics, sir! The Borg technology is complex, and it takes complex equipment to analyze it and that's just the way it is!"

"That's enough! Ruezre' you're out of line! Place yourself on report and when that's done I want you to turn all your notes and findings over to me directly, is that understood?" I would show her by cracking the problem myself.

--

I was in science lab four. There were two different types of science labs on the Harrier. One was a dedicated lab. It was designed around a given topic of study and then laid out and equipped for that type of study. These are necessary, but they took up a lot of space. The other types were general purpose laboratory rooms. These were simply large empty rooms with mechanical provisions for power and furniture. You could set up all the shelves, tables and equipment you needed right where you needed it.

I had the control circuitry from the old power generator on the table in front of me and I had been going over it with a micro-scanner.

"Computer, retain image." I said.

"Image from micro-scanner saved." The computer said. I was doing the basic step which was to build a big picture of the item myself. The whole machine had been scanned before, but not frame by frame by a micro-scanner.

"At current imaging rate, how long to enter the whole device?" I asked.

"Working" The computer said. I waited. The computer thought about it. "Twenty three years, eight months, nine days, two hours forty five minutes, and eighteen seconds, estimated, given Captain Hailey's past work record and estimated mean time between failures of Captain Hailey." It meant that it included sick time for me.

I was shocked. I looked again at the scale I had the scanner set on. I had never really appreciated how many molecules could exist in a couple of pounds of circuitry.

I sat down for a while and tried to come up with a new approach to the problem. After a while I thought of trying to trace a single molecular circuit through the matrix

"Computer, locate grid 19-A and enhance." The computer zoomed in. "Computer, highlight the molecular circuit centered in the screen in about grid twelve." The computer highlighted several circuits in the correct area.

"Eliminate one circuitry highlight per second until I say stop." I said. The computer did so. "Now follow the highlighted circuit, enlarging the highlighted area until finished."

The point of view on the screen began to fall back and the highlighted section grew like an amoebae. "Stop." I said. "Computer I only wanted the first circuit highlighted."

"That circuit ties into the other circuits as specified." The computer said. It seemed a trifle smug.

"Then how are the circuits differentiated?" I was confused. If all the pipes were connected how did the information know which way to go?

"That information is not available." The computer said. I spent another two hours going around with it like that.

Seamus McTague came into the lab. "Good afternoon, Captain."

"Greetings Counselor, what can I do for you?" I was tired. My eyes hurt from staring at the screen.

"I would like to discuss the subject o' yer mental health, Captain."

I looked up at him shocked. "Really? I feel fine." What was this about?

"Well, Captain, everyone's heard about yer screamin' match with the Engineer this mornin'."

"Yeah, well." I said. In retrospect it didn't seem like I had been acting really rational. "I suppose you may have a point."

"Captain, I came to talk to ye' because I know that in yer heart of hearts, that ye're honest enough to look back at the past three weeks and try to see yer behavior from an outside perspective. I think ye've lost yer perspective on the issue of this Borg ship. I'll ask ye to please take some time t' think about it."

"Okay, Counselor. I'll think about it." I promised.

--

I returned to my quarters and relaxed, and tried to follow the counselors instructions. I was able to relax, some, but I knew as soon as I really thought about it that I wasn't really relaxed. I was in a hurry. I wanted to hurry up and analyze myself so I could get back to forcing the Borg ship to reveal its secrets. I could not relax enough to really empty my mind, because I was too focused on that subject.

Sometimes I can think things through by talking them out with a friend. Therefore, I went to look up Patricia Flynn. We had been part time lovers and full time friends since shortly after the Harrier had become lost.

I found her in sickbay.

"Patricia, can we talk?" I asked her. I only used her first name in an informal mode.

She looked up at me, and I could see that she was angry "About what?"

I shuffled "Well, I was just hoping that maybe we could do lunch and talk a little. I need a sounding board, and you're a lot of fun to sound."

She pinned me on a gaze. She was not miffed, she was not irritated, she was not snarked or pissed or anything like that. She was genuinely angry. "I'm busy. If you need to talk I can arrange an appointment with the Counselor."

I could imagine the sound of an armored door slamming down. There was no doubt in my mind where Patricia Flynn was.

I was stunned for a moment. What had I done? Oh. I had ordered her to perform an operation that she didn't feel comfortable with, and the patient had died.

Then I hadn't talked to her for three weeks. In that moment I realized that I had been a serious asshole.

"I... I'm sorry." I said to her and then before it could get any worse I turned and left.

I walked at random around the Harrier. I felt miserable, and no place held anything that seemed like it would help. I simply wandered around. People talked to me, and I said vague things at them but I wasn't really paying attention.

Several hours later I was tired, but I didn't want to go to sleep. It didn't seem like it would be any fun. In the end I had to. It was my job.

--

When I woke up the next morning I found that I had come to a decision in my sleep. As soon as I became aware of it I thought it through. It seemed like a good idea, and so I went to go find Tillean.

"Tillean I need to locate a section of the Borg Cube that is mostly intact. I want enough systems in it so that an analysis stands a good chance of paying off."

"How big a section, Captain?"

"About five meters by three meters by three meters." I gave her the rough dimensions of a shuttlecraft.

"Oo," She said "That's going to take a bit."

"Let's get on that right away, okay?"

Then I went and scared up Harksain Varupuchu. He was on the Borg ship over seeing the gathering of samples.

"Mr. Varupuchu, please secure all the samples that you already have and then prepare to get out of the Borg ship."

He looked coolly at me "Aye, Captain."

Then I went to find Stephanie Anderson.

--

A couple of days later, on the bridge of the Harrier I said "Execute." Stephanie pressed a button on her panel. We were ten thousand kilometers away from the Borg wreck. All of our samples were secured, and everyone was ready to get back under way for home.

On the Borg wreck, at a signal from Stephanie a strange device began to operate. The first part of the device was a containment field with a gram of antimatter inside. The containment field was tuned to a specific frequency. The second part of the device was a phaser rifle mounted on a tripod aimed at the containment field.

When Stephanie gave the order to fire, the rifle turned on and began to pump energy into the containment field. The containment field was tuned so that the energy went right to the anti-matter. The antimatter quickly heated up.

Eventually the energy from the phaser rifle had heated the antimatter to the point where it overwhelmed the containment field. Once the field fell, there was a blast of extremely hot gaseous anti-matter inside the Borg ship.

The hot anti-matter gas went every where, and each time an atom of it hit the material of the Borg ship, it converted into a pulse of gamma radiation. As the blast proceeded the gamma radiation heated up the gas and the rest of the Borg ship even further. Eventually the bulkheads and equipment of the Borg ship melted and then became hot gas.

In less than the blink of an eye, the hot gasses reached the outer edges of the Borg cube ship. By that time there was enough energy in the mass to vaporize the whole thing. The Borg ship was melted and evaporated down to its individual atoms.

A cloud of hot gas that used to be the Borg ship expanded in space. No one would ever be able to discover the secrets of Borg technology from that.

"Well, they'll be able to tell what it was made of..." I said. This earned me a weak grin from Tillean.

"Let's go home." I said. The Harrier turned and went to warp speed towards the Klingon frontier. In just a few weeks we would be back in known space.

In the cargo bay of the Harrier a single chunk of the Borg cube ship rode, wrapped and preserved for the science people on Earth. The technology of the Borg was their problem.

-end-

The Borg and I:

Author's notes on Episode 16 of ST-OM

By Jay P. Hailey

My biggest fear about this particular episode will come true. You see, this episode came from a discussion on the nature of the Borg between Dennnis Washburn and myself. The subject for debate the nature of "Borgness".

Our sources were the episodes of Star Trek: The Next Generation "Q-Who?" "Best of Both Worlds Parts 1 and 2." and "I, Borg."

The Borg were said to be a cybernetically networked mass mind. It was said that all Borg shared the experience of any single member of that race.

In "I, Borg" a single Borg was rescued by the Enterprise-D. He became an individual based on the experience. In the end of that episode, it seemed as though Hugh retained the benefits of that experience (He looks back at Geordi as they march to the Borg Ship.). So the question became, "What did the Borg as whole experience and when did they experience it?"

We speculated on three basic results.

1 The Borg have methods of controlling members of the Borg who have been assimilated from other races. J. L. Picard couldn't alter the events at Wolf 359, although he desperately wished to. The concept of Individuality would be considered "Bad-Think", Hugh would be ruthlessly controlled. His mind might be wiped, or he might even be destroyed as "Contaminated":

2 The Borg might consider the whole experience interesting, but "irrelevant." Hugh might go his way as a happy go lucky Borg in a sea of zombies. The Collective might not even notice his oddness for some time.

3 Hugh seemed to have no defenses against the experience and the character development. There seemed to be no "Bad-Think" programs guarding him against non-Borg-like thinking. In this scenario, the experience of individuality amounts to a subtle and invasive virus against which the Borg really didn't have a defense. Look what a pasty Hugh was for it.

I personally favored item three. I am a sucker for happy endings, and like most members of my culture I value my freedom and individuality. That's why the Borg are such hideous monsters to me. They destroy individuality, wholesale. This ended up being the idea we used for our Role Playing simulation.

The Star Trek: The Next Generation episode "The Neutral Zone" there was just a lot going on. The Romulans had reappeared, there were three survivors from the Twentieth Century, Data tried and failed to understand humor, etc, etc. There was also a background bit. Several Federation and Romulan outposts had disappeared as though some force had scooped them up from the planetary surfaces.

I had the opinion that this was, in fact, meant to be foreshadowing of the Borg. It also implied Borg contact with known space before Q's interference.

Okay, so here's this Borg cube on the way from Point A to Point B. It scoops up some hapless victims and moves on. Then this terrible idea catches up with it. The effect would be that all the "Individual" Borg would be cast out of the collective. The collective would cease to exist. So all the survivors from the Federation, Romulan and other outposts are suddenly non-Borg after years of enforced Borgness.

Dennnis thought that the results would not be pretty...

The story you read was more about Captain Hailey and his reaction to the Borg rather than the Borg themselves. Captain Hailey never learned what had happened to the Borg ship, and after viewing his loss of perspective on the matter he didn't care.

After we had role played this the Star Trek: The Next Generation Episodes "Descent" and "Ascent" were aired. In them, Data's brother Lore leads free Borg on a rampage. The Borg were lost and uncertain after the loss of their collective.

Dennnis and I were overjoyed. We had guessed correctly about the nature of the Borg. This episode confirms nearly everything we had speculated about the Borg except for the violence inherent in the loss of the collective. This could easily be explained away by the idea that Hugh's group were mostly "Native" Borg, that is, people who had been Borg since birth. The group found by the Harrier had been mostly "Assimilated" Borg who had been somewhere else first.

This was all fine and good in 1992 and 1993. Now, in April of 1996, The news is this: The next Star Trek Movie (Due out at the end of 1996 as of this writing) will feature the Borg. All of the questions, assumptions and speculations inherent in this piece might be invalidated.

But that's the whole bugaboo about writing Star Trek stories in the first place, isn't it? I addressed that in my first essay, "The Harrier: An Alternate Universe of Star Trek." The Harrier stories are an alternate universe of Star Trek because the guys who make Star Trek keep changing things on us!

That's okay. In our role playing world and the world of the Harrier, the Borg are not an issue, although some "Free Borg" might be, in time.

Just another divergence between the Harrier and the "Real" Star Trek. We hope that you enjoy these stories, anyway.

-end-


	18. Chapter 18

REP: Star Trek: Outwardly Mobile (OCC - TNG era) 17 -The End, PG 1/1

Title: Star Trek: Outwardly Mobile 17 The End

Author: Jay P Hailey ST-OM, OCC - TNG era 17/54?

Rating:PG

Archive: Fine with me, just tell me where.

Disclaimer: Paramount owns all things Star Trek. I claim Original Characters and Situations for me.

Webpage HTTP://jayphailey. Trek: Outwardly Mobile

Episode 17: The End

(Stardate 47645)

By

Jay P. Hailey,

Dennnis Washburn

and

The Star Trek Players

A Klingon K'Vort class battle cruiser had braced the USS Harrier several weeks before we thought we would reach the Klingon frontier. It seems that the Klingons had been expanding along that front quite a bit.

We heard no reaction or comment from the Klingons, other than strict ship handling instructions. A communiqué relayed to us by the Klingons had Starfleet Command placing us on diplomatic assignment to the fleet of the high councilor, Gowron. This was a surprise to me. K'empec was the High councilor when the Harrier had been lost. I didn't even really know Gowron's reputation. Our out dated records had Gowron being a well regarded fleet commander and part time Sector Commander General.

The Harrier was put into a Klingon Starbase some thirty light years outside of what we thought was Klingon territory. The Admiral of the Starbase briefed me.

"We have heard of your adventures, Captain Hailey." Admiral Zlee sneered. He didn't seem too impressed. He looked too big in the small conference room aboard the USS Harrier. His armor was all ship shape, tight, and looked comfortable. I had seen and examined Klingon armor at one time. It doesn't get that comfortable unless you wear it a lot. He also had a disruptor pistol and the small semi-Bat'leth dagger. He probably had several other things, too.

Stephanie Anderson, My chief of Security didn't want to let him wander the Harrier armed, but what were you going to do with an Admiral of an allied fleet? A search was out of the question. I noticed that Stephanie had scheduled security drills, that day.

"I have strict orders to you from Gowron. You do know how to follow strict orders, don't you?" He challenged.

This was a sore spot between Klingons and Humans. Klingons claimed that Humans had no honor. They would violate rules and orders as suited them. At command school it was called "Command Initiative". Usually it was called "Nothing Sells Like Success". Captain Kirk was our patron saint in this issue. The Klingons had their own version of this, something along the lines of "The winner writes the history". It is not healthy to bring this up to armed Klingon officers.

"I have been assigned to diplomatic duty with the Fleet of Gowron. Please relay your orders." I said as mildly as I could manage. Despite the Admiral's sneer, I knew I had done the right thing. Klingons respected you better if you kept your cool.

"Hmph. You will be repaired at this base. Your own crew will do the work. When you are finished you will form up with our cruiser group. You will run under communications silence. You will follow the orders of the Fleet Commander, explicitly. Speak to no one who is not on Gowron's personal staff. Is that understood?"

"Yes, Admiral." I said. We were now under thick, paranoid Klingon cover.

--

After we had refit the Harrier, we set out across the Klingon Empire. Three of the big Bird of Prey cruisers and one of the huge new Vor'Cha class cruisers surrounded us and escorted us through. The Klingon Empire is a lively place with its own set of history and worlds, each of which adds its own flavor to the Empire. We didn't see any of it. We never stopped.

Occasionally we were told to go to red alert and stand by. We would go to battle stations and arm weapons, while two or three of the escort squadron would cloak and move off. Three times we saw weapons fire at long range and once we saw a ship explode. However, we were never told anything of these encounters. Our escorts would return to formation and the flagship would order us to resume cruise mode.

For six months we traveled across the Klingon Empire in this fashion.

--

In the main council chambers on Qo'noS I stood and waited. I was in my dress uniform, full decorations on my chest. At the Klingon attache's suggestion I also wore a phaser on my hip. The wearing of weapons was a sign of adulthood to Klingons. One was a warrior and a full participant in society if armed. If a man was unarmed, then he was dependent on the power and reputation of his clan to protect him. He was a child. So Li'ira, Varupuchu and I were all armed.

We had been on Qo'noS for two weeks and the three of us were all that had been let off the Harrier. The crew becoming tense and a little stir crazy. I asked them to hold on. From Qo'noS it was only a few weeks to the Klingon-Federation Border. We were almost home.

I had spent the previous two weeks briefing Gowron and his high councilors on the voyage of the Harrier, and what we had encountered.

Fortunately, the Klingons never tried to board the Harrier. We had the delegates from the Zantree Alliance and several samples of things from our trip, including some Borg technology. I trusted Klingon honor and courage under fire as much as I trusted anything in the universe, but with temptations like that; well the Earth phrase applies in spirit if not in actuality. The Klingons were only human.

I guess that Gowron feared the result if he caused an entire Federation starship to disappear. Especially since we were technically under his command. His honor was now at stake to get us home safe and unmolested. I can only imagine what Starfleet Command might have promised him to get him to follow this course. I suppose it was all for the good. The Klingons were, after all our allies.

Gowron and his staff were particularly interested in the Kliges'chee. I was limited in the specifics of what I could tell them. After all I had promised the Zantree Alliance not to tell the Klingons of them. Much of the information about the Kliges'chee had come from the Zantree. To tell the Klingons too much of that would imply the existence of the Zantree strongly enough to violate the spirit of my promise. So I waffled and talked around things and blamed much of my knowledge on the Romulan starship Et-Tu and the Murachi.

The Klingons knew that I wasn't telling them everything and it annoyed them. However, they took what they could get and that was a lot. Gowron insisted that I download logs and reports of what we had seen. Mostly I obliged. Gowron made ugly noises about "Partial allies" and "fair weather friends" I reminded him of several incidents in Klingon history where the closest of allies had not been totally forthcoming with each other. He was irked, but saw my point.

At the end of these two weeks I thought that we would be told to form up with our escort and sent home. At the last minute, I was told to present myself and my two most senior officers for a formal reception on Qo'noS, at the main council chamber.

So there we were, standing in the center of the chamber, at full attention, with dress uniforms chafing our necks and incongruous phasers slung from our hips when in walks Kahless the Unforgettable.

I stood there stunned. If Abraham Lincoln had come out from behind the curtain I could hardly have been more surprised.

Let me explain. Kahless the Unforgettable was the father of Klingon culture. His writings and his battles had formed the pattern for their behavior for nearly fifteen hundred years. As a student of Klingon history I had read the works of Kahless first, and used them as a filter to try to understand the rest. That is the Klingon way.

The Klingon High Council followed him in, but I had no eyes for them. I was standing in the presence of living history. How had he gotten there? I recognized him clearly. There were still recordings of him from the ancient days.

I noticed right away that Kahless was short, and that his eyes had a merry twinkle. He was enjoying the whole pomp and circumstance thing.

He turned around and ascended to the Bloody Throne. It was placed up on a dais and commanded a view of the whole council chambers. Last I had heard was that no one had sat one the Bloody Throne for nearly three hundred years. It was said that the Spirit of Kahless sat in that throne to remind any conqueror or power broker that there was one Klingon that no one would measure up to again.

He moved with a bouncy kind of infectious energy. He was a dynamo. He was the kind of man who did seventeen things before breakfast, and that was taking it slow. "Who comes before me?" He said. It was a ritualized question.

"A Federation starship captain, My Lord. His name is Jay P. Hailey." Gowron answered. I got a queasy feeling in the pit of my stomach. A Warrior presented to the Emperor was supposed to list his battles. It was his resume. That was how he was known. Gowron hadn't bothered to have me prepare for this, because, in the traditional form it would take hours for some experienced Klingon commanders to list their battles.

"I have not heard of him." Kahless said. This was the signal to begin with the recitation.

Gowron turned to gaze at me. At that moment I jumped in.

"My Lord, I represent the United Federation of Planets and the crew of the starship Harrier. We have taken our starship across a thousand light years of unknown space. The unknown is our enemy, and these are the battles we have fought." I saw Gowron scowl, but it was too late. I was committed. I told Kahless a stripped down version of our voyage. I went from the most recent incidents back wards. I gave a thumbnail sketch of my service history, too.

At the end of it, Kahless looked at me. He had a poker face on, but I could still see the twinkle in his eyes. Then he laughed. He got up and bounced down the steps of the dais to me, laughing.

"You know our ways, Captain! Heh, heh, heh!" He ran over to me and grabbed me, roughly and swung me around to his council. "See? The people of the Federation fight their battles well!" He chuckled "The unknown is our enemy, indeed!" He dropped me and I almost fell down. He was about five feet six inches tall, but he would probably weigh two hundred and twenty pounds at one g. He easily overwhelmed me with charisma, energy and brute strength.

He stretched his arms out to his council, who were looking at him dubiously, and a little sourly. "An enemy doesn't have to be a man with a knife, or a disruptor! These Federation people confront their enemy with sensors and computers and their minds! Science is their sharp blade! Together, Klingon Strength and Federation Science can accomplish great things!" He was half shouting, half laughing. He obviously thought the whole thing was going to be a lot of fun.

I noticed that there was a recorder pick-up aimed at him from the shadows. The whole thing was being taped, and maybe broadcast. I had ad-libbed my speech in front of the Klingon Emperor, and there might have been thousands or millions of Klingons watching.

Now I felt really queasy.

In the end it turned out okay. I was hustled back aboard the Harrier without a further word from Gowron or the Emperor. I never found out who, if anyone saw the tape.

--

"This is the starship Harrier to Starbase Twenty-Four, come in, Starbase Twenty-Four." Stephanie said. She sounded nervous. I understood how she felt. We had been working towards this moment for years.

The screen came to life and I saw a familiar face. He was a thin, bald man with a patrician profile. I recognized him immediately.

"This is Admiral Picard at Starbase Twenty-Four. Welcome home, Harrier."

I tried to say thank you, but the cheers drowned me out. The crew of the USS Harrier had begun to celebrate on the spot. Eventually I had to key the panel on my chair and type the message. "THANK YOU, ADMIRAL. USS HARRIER REPORTS ALL SECURE, HEADING FOR STARBASE TWENTY-FOUR, NOW."

He typed back "ACKNOWLEDGED. WE WILL SEE YOU HERE." I could see him grinning merrily on the screen.

We managed to get the Harrier moving towards the starbase. The crew was not very focused or disciplined. Everyone who had a stash of alcohol or recreational substances left broke them out. Starbase Twenty Four was two light years away, and the first day there was simply a mass party on the Harrier. The second day, we managed to recover somewhat, and the Harrier was policed and made ready for an inspection.

When we got close enough, The Starbase took control of the Harrier and piloted us in to a dock. A message told us to expect Admiral Picard's party on board when we docked, and so we spent a frantic twenty minutes arranging an honor guard and getting ourselves into dress uniform for it.

We greeted Admiral Picard and his party at the main docking port of the USS Harrier. They were wearing the new Starfleet uniforms. Admiral Picard's was a long maroon jacket with a black trim and gold bands around the sleeves. His attache' Commander Data wore a mostly black jump suit with maroon shoulders. It looked more comfortable than the two piece uniforms that we wore. The lavender turtleneck confused me. Okay, it did go with the uniform, and looked okay on nearly everyone, but why lavender?

Li'ira called the honor guard to attention. Admiral Picard came into the airlock and said "Permission to come aboard?"

"Granted, Sir." I said

He approached me and extended his hand. I took it. I was very flattered. Jean Luc Picard was the pinnacle of Starfleet. A noted diplomat, scholar and explorer, he embodied the "Scientist, statesman, soldier" concept of Starfleet for everyone of our generation. That was why he had been picked to be the Captain of the Enterprise-D.

"I have been following your reports, Captain. It is good to have you and your crew back."

I grinned like an idiot. "Thank you, Sir."

"I have your orders here. I will be in charge of the debriefing of your crew, and collecting your samples and data." He handed me a PADD with the orders on it. I slipped it to Ensign Bruce, who took it and returned to attention. After I was done conducting Admiral Picard on his inspection tour, I would find them on my desk in office.

"Yes, sir. It will be a pleasure working with you."

"But first, I believe that an inspection is in order."

"Yes, sir. We have the Harrier ship shape and ready for your inspection."

"Very good. You know now I used to command the Harrier's sister ship, the Stargazer."

"Really, Sir? They're good old ships." I said. When I had first been assigned to Starfleet Command, I had visited the USS Stargazer at the Starflight Museum.

We toured the Harrier while Admiral Picard, the hero of the Federation chatted amiably with me about the quirks of the Constellation class starships. The were areas of the Harrier that did not meet specifications, but we had done the best we could with insufficient materials. Admiral Picard didn't seem to mind at all.

--

Still later I got to meet Captain Riker and the crew of the Enterprise-E. I was surprised. The Enterprise-D had gone down over Veridian III about a year before we came home. A new Enterprise was christened quickly after that. She was a sister ship to the Enterprise-D, except that her design had been refined based on new technology and experience with the design.

The Enterprise-E put in at Starbase Twenty-Four about a week after our arrival. Her job was to ferry the Murachi and Zantree Alliance delegates to Earth to meet with the Federation Council. It was going to be a short trip. The Enterprise-E could make three light years a day. She was just a touch more than three times as fast as the Harrier.

They held a diplomatic reception aboard the new ship. I went because that was the closest that I was liable to get to a Galaxy class starship for a while. There were many different types of starships in service with Starfleet at that time. Each of them had its good points and bad points. The Galaxy class were the flag ships. If an officer was assigned to a Galaxy class starship, they could really say that they had made it to the big leagues.

The Enterprise-E was a sweet ship, but, being only a few months old, you could almost smell a "new starship" smell aboard her. There was nothing makeshift or improvised about her at all.

I felt kind of insecure inside the new pride of the fleet. Next to her, the USS Harrier looked small, haphazard and rude.

The delegates gushed about the size and opulence of the Enterprise-E. The Executive Officer took it in her stride. She was a Betazoid woman with dark hair and the usual deep, black sensitive eyes of the Betazoids.

"So, Captain Hailey, what do you think of the Enterprise?" She asked me, during the reception.

I nodded at the delegates "Better you than me, Commander Troi."

She grinned "They'll be okay. They won't be on the Enterprise for a whole year, either."

The delegate from Youn approached us. "Captain Hailey," He began. He spoke right past Commander Troi. I thought that it was rude, myself, but the delegate no doubt thought that Commander Troi was too low in social status to speak to. "I see that your government does, after all, know how to treat diplomats properly. I must say thank you for your hospitality during the arduous trip from the Zantree Alliance."

I failed to take his comment in the spirit in which it was meant. "You're welcome, Delegate. I hope that you find your assignment productive and enjoyable."

"Certainly, certainly, Captain. Thank you." He turned again towards the buffet. I doubted that it would survive another pass from the delegate.

Captain Riker approached us. "Deanna, have you met Delegate Crelose, yet?" He gestured towards the table where the Delegate from Murachi was holding forth. "He tells an entertaining story."

Captain Riker and Commander Troi had a certain chemistry about them. It was as if they had been working together for years. They felt as comfortable near each other as an old pair of shoes. I wondered idly if they were married or something. It certainly wasn't my business to ask.

"Delegate Crelose was a sociologist on his home world." I told them. "He thinks that the Federation is a huge anthropology experiment that we put together for him to play with." I grinned at the memory of the swath that Crelose had cut through the gossip on the Harrier.

Captain Riker excused himself and his First Officer as they ambled off to hear Crelose. It made me a little nervous. Technically I was senior to Riker, having been promoted to Captain before him. While we were on his ship, I was just a passenger and slightly less useful than any of the delegates. The truth of the matter was that Riker's reputation and connections gave him a much better political stand than I had. The rulebook earnestly states that the size and class of starship under a Captain's command does not add to his rank or seniority. This was a lie. Riker was another hero of the Federation, and the Commander of the Enterprise, the flagship of the fleet. He pulled more G's than I did by a large factor. His politeness was earnest though.

Tillean caught up to me. She was leaving with the Enterprise-E.

"I guess this is good bye, Captain."

"Good-bye Tillean. I'll miss you." It was not a lie. Tillean was the kind of science officer that made a Captain look good. Without her, our next assignment was not going to be nearly as interesting or fun.

"You'll have to come and visit me on Beauville, sometime."

"Maybe I will. It sounds interesting, as long as William and Adam aren't on the loose."

She looked into my eyes "I'm serious Captain. I hope to see you there some day."

I grew flustered. I wasn't used to such a direct approach. "Maybe I will at that," I said, meaning it this time.

"I'll see you there." She said. She turned and walked away. She turned "It was fun!" She said and then she disappeared into the crowd. Like any Vicharrian she was not looking backwards.

Then I had the pleasure of meeting the Chief Engineer of the Enterprise-E, Geordi LaForge. We happily talked shop, and I got a clinic on the advancements in the field of starship engineering since I had been gone.

--

After the reception, the Enterprise-E left Starbase Twenty-Four and made her speedy way directly to Earth. Aboard her she carried all the samples that we had recovered from our voyage, including the chunk of Borg Cube-Ship that we had gathered. She also carried all the diplomatic delegates, and a sizable chunk of my crew. They were heading back to Earth to be debriefed by Starfleet Command, and to take their accumulated leaves. They also took Lt. Colonel Flagg back to Earth in his cold-sleep tube. "Bill-the-Probe" went with them. I never found out where he went after that. All of my requests for information were denied. "Bill-The-Probe" was classified, and I didn't need to know. The senior officers of the Harrier and a few critical crewmen were left to support the investigation.

The investigation was a mandatory event in any case. Starships don't just leap a thousand light years. Our adventures were clearly the result of extreme circumstances. Admiral Picard, Admiral Grayson, the Commander of Starbase Twenty-Four and another officer of flag rank would form a Board of Inquiry. They would decide among themselves if there was any evidence of wrongdoing, and forward to Starfleet Command a review of my decisions during the voyage of the Harrier.

There were several days worth of work examining the Harrier in minute detail. Each change to the ship was logged and explained by myself or Ruezre Vengla. The Harrier had run for long stretches of time without proper maintenance or replacement parts, and so the wear and tear on her made her an experiment on the durability of starships. The Harrier herself represented scientific data, and told her own version of our story.

--

They found the third Flag Officer for the review board. Her name was Dayna Dawson. She was a tall chestnut haired woman with a precise look about her. She was the Captain of the starship USS London.

I read that Captain Dawson had made a name for herself as a young officer during the Cardassian war. She quickly rose to the rank of Captain, were she had a reputation as a fierce tactician. Following the Cardassian War, Dawson had transferred to the command of a Starship. I bet that caused some head scratching back at Starfleet Command. With her war record a cushy staff position would have been an easy thing, but she moved to a risky and untried area, field command.

Since then, Dawson had been a well regarded starship Captain, conducting patrols and exploration missions with equal aplomb. She had turned down offers of promotion and assignment to Starfleet Command.

There were mixed feeling about this in San Francisco. Some people talked of such captains and officers as "burn outs" or "space cases". Others envied their ability to sacrifice career for freedom. On the down side out on the frontier, they were always the last to know of the newest political winds. They were always the most helpless in the face capricious decisions or changes of policy. By the time they heard of it, it was a done deal.

The London slid into Starbase Twenty-Four and the questions began.

--

"Please explain the factors leading to your decision to contact Romulan High Command." Admiral Green said. Tiredly, I re-explained my reasoning. I knew that it was an overly sentimental decision, but we had gone over it several times. We had been talking and explaining and discussing for days. I was to the point where if I never saw another conference room again in my whole life it would have been just fine.

The Review Board asked me about many of the decisions that I had made during the Harrier's voyage. Some of the ones that I had thought were questionable they left alone. Some of the ones that I had thought were self-evident had been questioned thoroughly. There were few surprises.

The Questions were repeated endlessly. "When you realized that Bandersnatch Six was inhabited by a primitive race, why did you continue with your plans to land there?"

"My crew had been without leave for weeks. I wanted to be especially careful of their emotional states. I wasn't going to be able to get any replacement crew for quite a while."

"Does your contract with the Gallowayans refer to yourself specifically or to the Federation as a whole? Did you feel that you were empowered to make this contract on behalf of the Federation?"

"No, the contract refers to me, specifically. I believe that the precedent for Command Initiative in distant areas has been well established."

"Why did you induct Harvey Del Rio into Starfleet? Do you feel that he is entitled to back pay and benefits?"

"It was just a manner of making the paperwork fit the facts. Harvey was utterly at my mercy and under my control when the Harrier left the Federation. Inducting him into Starfleet simply regularized the relationship that already existed. Harvey did the job I assigned to him well. Certainly he was a stowaway but it was my fault that he wasn't caught in a reasonable amount of time. I think a certain amount of compensation is in order."

"Did you feel that laughing at the Sixian Starbase commander was useful tactic? Do you feel that the Dorian civilization would be able to survive?"

"No, it was an accident and I regret it. It made a peaceful resolution of the situation even more unlikely. I don't know how the Dorian civilization will fare, but I honestly hope that it will change to a more humane state, soon."

On and on and on the questions went. On and on I explained myself. Eventually after several long days, I was told that the Board was retiring to consider the evidence. I had some time to kick around.

--

I was staring out of one of the huge view ports into the docking area of Starbase Twenty-Four. I was looking at the USS London. She was a beauty. Her primary hull was a long, sleek ellipsoid, her engineering hull reminded me of the body of a shark. She was the latest thing out of Spacedock, an Intrepid class starship.

The basic layout had been in use for one hundred and thirty years, the Moscow class, the Constitution class, the Excelsior class, etc., but everything about the USS London was new. As a trained engineer, my eyes scanned her hull and her systems and I lusted after her. I wanted to know everything about her. I suppose I was being unrealistic. She belonged to another.

But maybe, if everything went well...

The London and her sisters would be opening new territory up at a frantic rate. At three times the speed of starships for the past one hundred years, she made the Federation suddenly seem three times as small.

It was appropriate that her layout was so similar in many ways to the Constitution class starships. We were at the beginning of an age of exploration, expansion and adventure the likes of which had not been seen since the days of Captain Kirk and the original Enterprise.

I was dreaming. The success of the Harrier was really a fluke. If not for the crew, the Harrier would have been lost. I was better suited as the captain of an older ship. If not the Harrier, then one the Excelsiors. They were too old to be refitted with the newer engines. They were condemned to be hand maidens to the success of the Intrepid class. That would probably be where I wound up, If not behind another desk at Starfleet Command. I realized with a certain amount of surprise that the idea of a desk in San Francisco sounded more boring than I could tolerate. I knew then that I was spoiled as a staff officer. Either they put me in the captain's chair of the Harrier or another ship or I would retire.

I realized that I was not alone. Li'ira had come into the lounge where I was oogling the London. I turned an oogled Li'ira for a moment. It was not a luxury that I had allowed myself on the Harrier, and it was long overdue. She was really pretty, a fact I might have missed if not acclimated to her pheromones.

How long had she been watching me?

"I came to tell you," She said "I have been given my new assignment." This was Li'ira's method. She waited for the right time, and then jumped in with both feet. Her tone let me know that she was moving on. Our partnership was dissolved.

"They offered me a command." She said. I was stunned. A command? They could not have thought that much of our performance.

"Really? Which one?" I tried to make my grin sincere.

"It's a new one, Deep Space Ten." She sounded happy. It was technically cause for celebration. Even command of a space station was a compliment from Starfleet Command. It meant that they trusted her with a whole station and probably the better part of a sector. However, I knew the other side of that coin. Station commands were dead ends. They were little cul-de-sacs where officers with talent, but no pull, or officers with pull but no talent were stationed. It was devilishly difficult to jump start your career after it had been stalled in that way. Li'ira plainly had the ability. She was also an Orion with no family name behind her. I wanted to tell her to quickly run out and marry someone named Armstrong. The saddest part was that this tactic might have actually worked. That was not Li'ira's style.

"Uh, good luck." I said.

"You don't sound as happy as I would have thought." She said. I could see suspicion grow behind her eyes.

"Have I ever told you about my first command?"

"No."

"It was the Starfleet Reserve Center on Benson. They warehoused me there, after I left my safe, dutiful role as Chief Engineer of the Akagi."

"That's an interesting way of putting it."

"It's the truth. I had been slanted towards the engineering track ever since my days at the academy. I made chief engineer, but I reached a plateau there. I knew I was never going to make line officer like that and so I took the tests and made my command rating. They had to promote me. Then they offered me a staff posting on a starbase. I said no. I wanted a command position and I let them know it. They offered me Benson and I took it. It was a backwater. Nothing ever happened there. My career also never happened there. After four years I realized that I was never going to go anywhere else. I was never going to be promoted or make another mark on my record except for maybe good attendance. I think that I just didn't have the right political connections. Some admiral's son or some politician's nephew had the first call on the position that I worked for."

Li'ira listened intently and then said quietly "Deep Space Ten isn't like that. It's a new station out on the frontier."

"I hope so. Starfleet Command is a political place. Back on Earth it's not so much what you know, but who you know."

"Playing the game with them isn't the way to change it, is it?"

I shrugged my shoulders at her. "It's the only game in town."

She turned away and said quietly, "I hope that you're wrong."

"I know what you can do, and any one who has seen you work knows what you're worth. In the offices of the Admirals, they don't see that, they see tally marks on the records. I don't want to see you take a dead end job. You're worth more than that."

She turned back to face me and the faint ghost of a smile played on her dark green lips. "Thank you. I hope that you will trust me to have done my homework on this assignment. I don't think its as much of a dead end as you fear."

She caught me. I realized that the assignment to Benson wouldn't have come as such a surprise if I had done my homework too. "All right," I grumped "I'll trust you." I waved my finger at her. "This time!" I grinned. I had been trusting Li'ira completely for the last six years.

Her smile was bright. "Good! Now let's go have some lunch before I have to leave."

It didn't hit me that she was really gone until a couple of days later.

--

I had orders for Harksain Varupuchu. He was on the Harrier, overseeing an overhaul of the life support system. It was scattered all over the deck. It looked like a mess, but I knew Varupuchu better than that.

"Lt. Commander, may I have a word with you?" I beckoned the Andorian to me.

He looked vaguely irritated as he came over to me. His attitude seemed to say "This had better be worth interrupting my important work." I knew better than to take it personally.

I held up the PADD with the orders and read them aloud, so that his work crew could hear it.

"As of Stardate 48155.5, you are promoted to the Rank of Commander, with all due privileges and responsibilities. Furthermore your services have been requested on the Starship Hibol, expected to arrive at Andor on or about stardate 50788.1."

I looked gravely at Harksain. He was grinning like a madman. He was going to be the second in command of an Andorian patrol vessel.

Humans think that the most glamorous part of Starfleet is the space exploration. Frequently on Earth you will hear the hoary old phrase "To Boldly Go Where No One Has Gone Before..." From the original Starfleet charter. This excites Humans because our race is curious and expansionistic.

The Andorians have a different perspective. They view the patrol of Federation Territory and the defense of our social orders as the most happy and glamorous assignments. Its wonderful example of how the two races have different instinctual drives. On Andor you will hear them say, "To Protect, Enforce and Rescue..." with the same tones of voice.

The starship Hibol had been built mostly by Andorians and she was designed to patrol the Federation, conduct search and rescue operations, and support police activities. This was the highest calling for the Andorians. For Harksain Varupuchu to be called to serve on that ship was a great compliment.

"Do you accept?" I asked.

In answer Harksain Varupuchu, the dour and disapproving Chief of Operations for the USS Harrier whooped at the top of his lungs. Taking this for a "Yes." I entered the data and made it official. Harksain Varupuchu was now Commander Varupuchu of the Hibol, an Andorian on his way up.

--

"Captain Hailey, may I have a word with you?" It was Admiral Picard. I jumped a little and then got flustered. My quarters on the Harrier were not ready for an inspection. How do you politely put an Admiral off? I didn't know.

"Ah, yes, Sir. Please," I jumped back from the door. "Come in."

He entered my Quarters and stood there for a moment. I suddenly got it. "Oh! Please, sit down. May I get you something to drink?"

The Admiral sat gingerly on my couch and gestured me to sit down. As I sat he said "I spoke with Admiral Quinn of you, when it was learned that you would be returning from deep space."

"Oh? And how is Admiral Quinn?" I was genuinely curious. I hadn't heard of the Admiral in far too long.

He retired a year and a half ago. That's part of the reason that I agreed to be promoted to Admiral and turn over the Enterprise-E to Captain Riker."

"Really?"

"Yes. Let me ask you," He steepled his hands with a distinctly Vulcan gesture. I had seen Mr. Spaat do it a number of times. "How would you describe Starfleet Command to an outside party?"

"Um, I suppose I would say that it is the body that devises our procedures, collects our data, and assigns starships to tasks, you know, our central command structure."

"Yes, yes, well. Would it also be fair to say that it is true that some times the people at Starfleet Command can become somewhat political?"

I thought of Ambassador Spock. He had parlayed a career in Starfleet into an acclaimed diplomatic career. He was not the first, he was just the most obvious example. "I suppose that a career in Starfleet can lead to a role in public life."

"No, what I mean is that some times Starfleet Command can become rather, er, full of itself. A place where one's career becomes more important than the goals it serves."

This was getting dangerous. What the Admiral was saying to me was very close indeed to insubordination. "Ah, I suppose it might..."

"My point Captain Hailey is just this. What you and the crew of the Harrier have accomplished is more important than just bringing home more knowledge."

"What?"

"What you have done is to bring information home that shakes the comfortable prejudices of Starfleet Command. The Kliges'chee, the Harmon are a reminder that an Admirals office in San Francisco is not the most important place in the Galaxy. This is lesson that many Starfleet Officers all too soon forget."

"Well, that's interesting Admiral but I don't see what it has to do with me."

"Well I wanted to sound you out about this subject first. Admiral Quinn seemed to think that you had the right attitude, and your treatment of Commander Li'ira, sticking to your guns and forcing them to accept her as your second in command bears that out."

"She's a good officer. She really believes in the Federation."

"Yes, and for most Starfleet career minded officers, what would the response to her have been?"

I thought it through. Without the right connections or family background, no Starfleet officer made it very far unless he was very lucky indeed. Sure there were a few, just enough to make it believable that Starfleet was a meritocracy, but often these other factors played a role. Li'ira's race also played a factor. Despite five centuries of battle, the ugly stereotype was an easy tool used by all too many people. Li'ira would be considered a "Green Animal Woman" first and by knee jerk reaction. Worse, even for the few who bothered to think it through, gambling your career on a point of ethics would be considered a little naive. I was flushed with my first success as Captain of the Harrier following the "Holly Hop Incident". I pushed Li'ira through as my real First Officer based on impulse and a certain amount of ego. If I had stopped to think about it, would I have risked my Captaincy for her? I didn't like the answer I got when I asked myself that question.

"Let's cut to the chase here, Admiral. What do you want from me?"

"Admiral Quinn and a few others, have had a long standing cabal inside Starfleet Command. It's not really a conspiracy or anything sinister. Its just a group of people who see that Starfleet Command needs its pomposity punctured from time to time. I am part of this group. It is why I pushed Li'ira for command of Deep Space Ten."

"Aren't base commands usually dead ends?"

"Yes, unless they are in the right place at the right time. With the current political situation in the sector, and the new starship speeds bringing us into more firm contact out on the frontier, things will start happening in that area soon. And Li'ira is just exactly the officer we need out there to stay on top of it."

"Ah hah. Okay. Now, what about me?"

"Well, we have an assignment for you that will be somewhat more difficult. I can't say too much more about it, except that it entails the command of another starship and that it will begin soon. There will be little time for you to recover from this voyage before you are immersed in the preparations for the next one."

"And you can fix the board of Inquiry?" I asked. I really didn't know what I was going to do if he said yes. On the one hand this "non-conspiracy" sounded dangerous. On the other hand, it was an almost sure thing to get me back in the Captain's seat.

"Certainly not! I believe that you have misunderstood me." With that he got up. He was angry. Did I insult him with the implication?

"Wait! Maybe I did misunderstand you. What you described to me sounded like another variation on the old boys network. What did I miss?"

"Just one thing, Captain Hailey. We are 'good old boys' who are dedicated to seeing that the right thing gets done. We do not 'fix' results or use our influence to promote ourselves over our purpose. That is not what Starfleet is for! I waited to make my advance to you until after I knew what the result of the review board was going to be."

I felt something stir inside me. Maybe I was naive, but I believed him. I had wanted to believe in doing the right thing for as long as I could remember.

"Okay, Admiral, I'm in, if you'll have me."

"All I want is know that you'll continue to follow your conscience and not the dictates of expediency or your career."

So I was going to be Sir Lancelot at the round table? All I had to do was surrender any hope of ever making Admiral or becoming the darling of Starfleet Command. All I had to do was surrender all forward progress of my career, a grail I had followed since I realized that this was the true name of the game in Starfleet?

"Sure." I said "You have my word, Admiral Picard."

The next day the review board forwarded a recommendation to Starfleet Command. They recommended that court martial procedures not be started. "We find no fault with the actions or decisions of the Officer in question. We find that he acted adequately within the rules, regulations, and spirit of Starfleet."

--

_"Captain's Log: Stardate 48165.1_

_"This is my final entry in this log. As of today the Harrier is under the command of Admiral Green as a part of Starbase Twenty-Four. The Harrier herself has been powered down and dependent on the Starbase for life support and operating power for some weeks, so this just makes it official._

_"The Crew of the Harrier has been dispersed to other tasks and other assignments, and soon I will board a ship to Earth to take up my next assignment._

_"This little ship has a lot of heart. Maybe she isn't a jewel in Starfleet's crown anymore, but when we needed her, she came though like a champ._

_"I would like to conclude this section of the Harrier's log with blanket commendations for the crew. Their accomplishment in getting the Harrier home should not be under rated."_

I closed the log. I was alone on the Bridge of the Harrier. Work was going on in other places in the ship, but the Bridge was not relevant while docked to the Starbase.

The panels were dark, and the lights were low. It seemed quiet and a little melancholy. Who knew how long it would be before she was sent out again?

I logged myself off of the Bridge and out of command of the starship Harrier. It seemed as though a weight was lifted off my shoulders. Command immediately transferred to the Starbase. I was now just another officer working for the Starbase Commander, Admiral Grayson. The Harrier was now just another module attached to it.

Then I finally had to get around to cleaning out my office.

--

I beamed aboard the Starship USS London. Captain Dawson and Commander Hanson were there to greet me. That was nice, Captain Dawson was senior to me, and I was just dead heading back to Earth.

Dawson was surprised and a little disapproving of my mode of dress. She was tall, and precise, with her chestnut hair in perfect coif, and her makeup expertly applied. Her uniform was trim and professional, and somehow seemed to hang a little better on her than it should have. It was as if she took extra pains to make her appearance perfect.

Commander Hanson was tall, broad shouldered and handsome. My first impression of him when we met was to wonder why he wasn't making recruiting ads for Starfleet. He simply hesitated a beat and then grinned.

I was wearing shorts and a loud Hawaiian pattern shirt. I had light sandals on. My new uniform, one of the mostly black one piece jobs with four pips on the lavender collar and maroon shoulders was neatly folded in my duffel.

"Permission to come aboard?" I asked, as per custom.

Dawson looked at my loud shirt and seemed to be considering it. "Granted." She said after a bit.

I stepped down off the transporter pad and then saluted the keel of the London.

"Sir, would you care to join us on the Bridge for the departure?" Dawson grated. I got the impression that she was expecting me to be more professional or captainly or something. She would address me properly as "Sir," or informally by my first name. A ship under way has only one Captain. I had been generically promoted to VIP for the duration of the trip. There was no specific title or mode of address, except that custom had extreme politeness as the default. My captain's rank was an inconvenient bother that simply wouldn't be mentioned.

"No, Thank you Captain." I grinned. "I wouldn't want to bother you."

"Oh," She said with a perfectly grim deadpan "It would be no bother at all." I thought that Commander Hanson would hurt something in a minute.

"If I can be shown to my quarters, then I'll enjoy the trip as a proper passenger, if that's okay, Captain." I said.

This seemed to cheer Dawson up somewhat. "If you insist," She gestured me towards the door, "Then I'll have Commander Hanson get you settled."

"Why, Thank you."

"You're quite welcome." She said ironically. She was regaining her sense of humor, at least.

I followed Commander Hanson out into the corridor. The corridors on the USS London were more square than those on the Harrier, giving the ship less of a structural air about her.

"I think the Captain expected you to be more formal, Sir." Hanson grinned.

"Are you kidding? This is the first chance that I've to be off duty in years. I am going to put my feet up and let you drive."

"Well, the London isn't a cruise ship, but I think you'll be able to enjoy yourself, Sir."

"Thanks, Commander."

I didn't bother the Command crew for the rest of the trip. I didn't visit the bridge and I didn't read any briefing memos. I did bother the Chief Engineer, a tall boyishly handsome man named Tom Lentz. He had freckles and a very dry sense of humor. He knew all the ins and outs of the Intrepid class starships and was excellent engineer. We had long technical discussions when his duty schedule allowed.

As the USS London left Starbase Twenty-Four, I watched from the lounge through the big windows in the front of the ship. We swung past the Harrier and I said good-bye. The Harrier was going to be scrapped. She was too old to be refitted to the new technology. There was little chance that she would ever be used again, and so the decision was made to send her to the wrecking yards. I saw through her opened hull into the main engineering section. They were taking her warp core out. After refitting, it would go to another ship. It was a sad sight to see, but I tried not to be sentimental about it.

Then the doors of the dock opened and the London lifted her skirts and ran for Earth.

I requested all of the crew from the USS Harrier to join me on my next assignment. This was a Captain's prerogative, when it was known that he would move to a new command assignment.

Li'ira was moving to command Deep Space Ten

Harksain Varupuchu was going to be the First Officer of the Hibol.

Nobody would say what had happened to Lt. Colonel Flagg. I didn't want him on the crew for my next assignment, but I kind of felt responsible for his being in the cold sleep tube to begin with. My inquiries were politely spurned.

Ruezre Vengla was declared unqualified for the next posting. That must have meant that it was going to be a newer ship, since there was nothing over five years old that Ruezre couldn't baby along.

Seamus McTague failed the height/weight requirements. He had grown too round. He refused to do the work necessary to restore himself to the requirements. He resigned from Starfleet and was assigned by the Catholic Church to a Parish in his home country of Ireland. As far as I know he is happily ministering to his flock there to this day.

Patricia Flynn was made a science officer on an ocean going vessel of the United States Coast Guard. The incident with the Borg had driven a wedge between us that never really went away. We were back to being polite to each other by the time she left the Harrier, but not friends.

Harvey Del Rio left the Harrier and his impromptu service in Starfleet. He eventually became a Starship Engineer, but he worked at a space dock for a civilian contractor. He never again took a deep space trip.

Stephanie Anderson was promoted to Lieutenant Commander, but she agreed to accompany me.

Ensigns Spaat and Bruce were both promoted to Lieutenants J.G., and both decided to go on to my next assignment.

Lieutenant Hendrickson, "Snoopy", was promoted to full lieutenant and became Stephanie's second in command.

Although most of the Marines had completed their term of enlistment, Sgt. Major Kendricks requested to follow me to my next assignment. Starfleet Command assigned him to me.

I didn't know what the ship would be, but there would be plenty of time for that, when we got to Earth.

-end-

Star Trek: Outwardly Mobile, an introduction:

By Jay P. Hailey

This is a short description of the new series I am writing. It is called "Star Trek: Outwardly Mobile." It's actually more of the "Star Trek: The Voyage of the Harrier" only without the Harrier.

Let me explain. In an earlier letter I described how the "Star Trek: Voyage of the Harrier" actually started out as a role playing game that Dennnis Washburn was GMing. Imagine my surprise when Dennnis said "Okay, now the Harrier has returned to the Federation." The game seemed to center around the Harrier being lost in space and being on a quest for home. When Dennnis said that the Harrier was home, I wondered what the heck was happening. Was Dennnis abandoning the game?

Dennnis did not end the game there. Captain Hailey continued his adventures. At the same time my own efforts to GM a Star Trek role playing game were beginning to pay off. The Starship USS Endeavor had taken off.

Then Kitty Howard appeared at a game and added Deep Space Ten to the line up.

Originally I had intended to rename "Star Trek: The Voyage of the Harrier" to "Star Trek: The Voyage of the Discovery" and follow Captain Hailey's trip exclusively.

But there were interesting stories happening in the other games, too. As I was trying to tell the end of the Harrier's story and switch to the beginning of the Discovery's, I had to take a detour and tell you what Li'ira found when she arrived at Deep Space Ten.

It felt good. It felt right. So I decided to keep on doing it. "Star Trek: The Voyage of the Discovery" had become something a little more than what I had planned.

Now I needed a new name.

The name I invented reflects a certain amount of the philosophy that I hope to portray. There was a poem once that read, as far as I can recall, that after all our travels and all our wanderings, the effect will be that we arrive home and truly see it for the first time.

Instead of being upwardly mobile in pursuit of career, status and accomplishment in the narrowest sense, the characters in these stories realize that there is something more than resume building. They are the ones that bring new eyes to Starfleet Command and make the Earth look outside of itself. These are the stories of the people who are outwardly mobile.

The Star Trek Players are:

Jay P. Hailey

Dennnis Washburn (Harrier/Discovery Only)

Sandra J. Hedlund

Gene Ambacher

Kitty Howard

Jeramie Postelwaite

Broc Olsen

Joshua Donovan

E. Carol Daugherty

Disclaimer: Paramount owns all things Trek. I claim original characters and situations in this story for me.


End file.
